The works of Dionysius the Areopagite

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THE WORKS OF

DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE.

PART I.

DIVINE NAMES, MYSTIC THEOLOGY,

LETTERS, &c.

NOW FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH,
FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK,

BY THE

REV. JOHN PARKER, M.A.

Author of " Christianity Chronologically Confirmed." ^
« Why am I a Christian?" " Dionysius the Areopagite. <

" How charming is Divine Philosophy !
Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose,
But musical as is Apollo's lute."

Sames fatter atiB Co.

6 SOUTHAMPTON-STREET, STRAND, LONDON

AND 27 BROAD-STREET, OXFORD.
1897.

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EMMANUEL

My thanks are due to Miss M. C. Dawes, M.A.,for careful
revision of the translation.

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54^55

I

DEDICATED

TO

L'ABBE J. FABRE D'ENVIEU,

HON. CANON OF ST. DENIS,

IN THANKFUL RECOGNITION

OF THE

CONFIRMATION GIVEN TO THE FAITH,

BY HIS

"LIVRE DU PROPHETE DANIEL."

Felix es Gallia ! quce, tantos et tales meruisti suscipere
sacerdotes.

\

;

PRINCIPAL WORKS ON DIONYSIUS
THE AREOPAGITE.

Editions.
Venice. Antwerp. Migne (Paris).

Translations.
Syriac. Sergius of Ras'ain, a.d. 530. B. Mus. Add.

12151-2, 22370.
Latin. Johannes Scotus.

Johannes Sarracinus.

Ambrosius Camaldulensis.

Balthasar Corderius.

Ficinnus.

Fabure Stapulensis.
Paraphrase. Cel. and Ecc. Hier., Dean Colet.
French. Frere Jean de St. Frangois.

Monseigneur Darboy.

L'Abbe Dulac.
German. Dr. Ceslaus Maria Schneider.

Dean Colet by Rev. J. H. Lupton.
Rev. J. Parker.

English

Commentaries.
John of Scythopolis, 490.
Joseph Huzaja.
Phocas, bar. Sergius

Edessa.
John, Bishop of Dara.
Theodore, bar. Zarudi

Edessa.
Hugo of St. Victor.
John of Salisbury.
Robert of Lincoln.
St. Thomas Aquinas.
Albertus Magnus.
Dionysius Carthusianus.

of

of

Scholia.
Dionysius, Bishop of Alex-
andria, A.D. 250.
Sergius of Ras'ain.
Maximus.
Pachymera.

BOOKS TO BE READ.

Vindicise Areopagaticae, 1702.

Hilduinus Areopagatica, 9th Century, Galenus, 1563.

L'Abbe Darras, St. Denis, premier eveque de Paris,

1863. Vives. Paris.
J. Baltenweck, La question de Pauthenticite' des Merits

Rixheim, J. Sutter.
Vidieu, St. Denis l'Areopagite, 1889. Firmin Didot.
Canon Bernard, St. Trophime d' Aries, 1888.
Schneider, " Areopagitica," Regensburg, 1884. Manz.
Jahn, " Dionysiaca," 1889. Altona.
Millet, " Responsio ad De duobus Dionysiis," 1642.
Pearson, " Ignatii vindicias," with two letters of "Vos-

sius." Cambridge.
Erasmus, " Ratio verse, religionis," and " Institutio."
Hippolytus, " Refutation of all heresies," 1859. Got-

tingen.
Dexter's Chronicon, Migne, Tom. 31.
Myrothecum sacrorum Elaeochrismaton, 1625-7.
The Conversion of India, George Smith, C.I.E., John

Murray, 1893.

WORKS AGAINST GENUINENESS.
Launoy, 1660.
Daille\ 1666.
Montet, 1848.
Hipler, 1861.

Nirschl, 1888, Histpolit Blatter, p. 172 — 184, and p. 257 —
270'.

a See Science de Dieii, Schneider II. vol. p. 2-29. Manz,
1886.

WORKS AGAINST GENUINENESS. Vll

In British Museum there are about 30 Editions, and
40 Treatises, and the Book of Hierotheus (Add. Rich.
7189), translation of which is promised by Professor
A. L, Frothingham. Leyden, E. J. Brill.

In Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, 12 Editions.

Avignon, 16 Editions, between 1498 and 1600.

Leyden, superb MSS. with marginal scholia, 15th
century.

In Rome there are many editions. Unfortunately the
Codex produced at the Greek and Latin Council, in the
Lateran, a.d. 660, is not in the Vatican, the whole
Library in the tower of Santa Francisca having been
destroyed in 12 19. There is, in the Vatican, a letter
in Latin from Dionysius to St. Paul, in which he speaks
of the beauty of the blessed Virgin, no doubt as seen
in death. There is another pathetic letter to Timothy
describing the martyrdom of St. Paul, and his own deso-
lation. In the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, there is
an autobiography in Syriac, in which it is stated that
when St. Paul described the Crucifixion in his speech
at Athens, Dionysius sent to fetch his notes, made in
Egypt, which were publicly read and found to agree with
St. Paul, both as to day and hour. It says, St. Paul's
visit to Athens was fourteen years after the darkness
in Egypt, which would place the conversion of Diony-
sius A.D. 44.

CONTENTS.

Principal Works on Dionysius the Areo
pagite .

Books to be Read

Works against Genuineness

Preface to the " Divine Names "
Divine Names
Note. — Ignatius

Preface to Mystic Theology .
Mystic Theology .

Preface to the Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite
Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite

Preface to Liturgy ....
Liturgy of St. Dionysius, Bishop of the
Athenians ....

Objections to Genuineness

VI

id.

ix
i

128

129
130

139
141

185

187
202

PREFACE TO THE -DIVINE
NAMES."

The Treatise on "Divine Names" was written
by Dionysius, at the request of Timothy, and at the
instigation of Hierotheus, to express, in a form more
easily understood, the more abstract Treatise of
Hierotheus, who was his chief instructor after St. Paul.
Its purpose is to explain the epithets in Holy Scripture
applied alike to the whole Godhead— Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost. It does not pretend to describe
the unrevealed God, Who is beyond expression and
conception, and can only be known through that
union with God, "by which we know, even as we
are known." Holy Scripture is the sole authority,
beyond which we must neither think nor speak
of Almighty God. The Treatise, being written by
one of the most learned Greeks, the phraseology
is, naturally, that of Plato and Aristotle ; but Plato
and Aristotle are not authorities here. When Plato
treated his Hebrew instructor with such reverence,
and was so versed in the Pentateuch, we need not
be sensitive as to the admission of Plato's authority.
But, as a matter of fact, on the question of Ex-
emplars a and some other points, the opinions of Plato
are expressly refuted. The phrase of Luther, " Plato-
nising, rather than Christianising," proves only a very

• C. V. § 2.

X PREFACE TO THE

meagre acquaintance with Dionysius. The Greek
language is moulded in a marvellous manner to
express the newly revealed Christian Faith in its
most exalted form, in a style which DaiHe* confesses
to be always of the same " colour ; " and Pearson,
"always like itself." Jahn has followed Dionysius
step by step in order to trace the connection be-
tween the language of Plato and Dionysius, for the
purpose of exploding the puerile supposition that
such complex writings as these could have been
evolved from the elementary treatises of Proclus
and Plotinus. Most probably, some of the lost
writings of Dionysius are in part preserved in those
writers and in Clement of Alexandria ; but Dionysius
is the Master, not Pupil ! The works are very dis-
tinct and precise upon the Divinity of Christ, and
the Hypostatic Union. Like St. Paul, Dionysius
affirms that He, Who made all things, is God ;
and further that Jesus is God, by some startling
phraseology. He speaks of James, "the Lord's
brother b ," as " brother of God." David, from whom
was born Christ after the flesh, is called "father
of God c ." When speaking of the entombment of
the Blessed Virgin, he speaks of her body as the
"Life-springing" and "God-receptive body;" thus
testifying that Jesus, born of a pure Virgin, is Life
and God. He describes the miracles of Jesus as
being, as it were, the new and God-incarnate energy
of God become Man. The newly coined words

b 'A5c\<p69eos. c QeoiraTop.

PREFACE TO THE "DIVINE NAMES." XI

indicate an original thinker moulding the Greek
language to a newly acquired faith. There are two
words, " Agnosia " and " Divine Gloom/' which illus-
trate a principle running through these writings, —
that the negative of abstraction denotes the super-
lative positive. " Divine Gloom " is the darkness
from excessive light; "Agnosia "is neither ignorance
nor knowledge intensified: but a supra-knowledge
of Him, Who is above all things known. It is " the
most Divine knowledge of Almighty God, within
the union beyond mind, when the mind, having
stood apart from all existing things, and then, having
dismissed itself, has been united to the superluminous
rays— thence and there, being illuminated by the
unsearchable wisdom." In the Mystic Theology,
Dionysius exhorts Timothy thus, — " But, thou, O
dear Timothy, leave behind both sensible percep-
tion, and intellectual efforts, and all objects of sense
and intelligence ; and all things being and not being,
and be raised aloft as far as attainable, ayvoaara^ —
unknowingly d , — to the union with Him above every
essence and knowledge. For by the resistless and
absolute ecstacy from thyself, in all purity, thou wilt
be carried high to the super-essential ray of the
Divine darkness, when thou hast cast away all, and
become liberated from all." Thus, we must pass
beyond all things known, and all things being, and
lie passive under the illuminating ray of God, if
we would attain the highest conception of Him,

d As beyond knowledge.

Xll PREFACE TO THE

" Who passeth all understanding." God " unknown ''
is still the God of Dionysius, and He is still to be
worshipped unknowingly. There is a tradition that
Dionysius erected the altar in Athens "to God
unknown," as author of the inexplicable darkness,
which he observed in Egypt, and found afterwards
from St Paul to have been contemporaneous with
the Crucifixion. Did St Paul adapt his discourse
at Athens to the conversion of Dionysius?

The only heresiarch, whom Dionysius mentions
by name, is Elymas, the Sorcerer, Simon Magus,
a man of great intellectual attainments and a con-
siderable author. Flavius Clemens and Eugenius,
Bishop of Toledo, were disciples of Simon before
their conversion to Christ. The tenets of Elymas
are described by Hippolytus. He formed an eclec-
tic system from the Old Testament and the Christian
Faith, and with Cerinthus and Carpocrates origi-
nated many heresies to which the apostolic epistles
allude, and which in later times became prominent
in the Church. In refuting these heresies, by mani-
festation of the truth, Dionysius anticipated many
errors — ancient and modern.

Jerome informs us (Scr. Ecc. 46) that Pantsenus 6 ,
one of the most celebrated Christian philosophers
of Alexandria, was sent, a.d. 193, by Demetrius,
Bishop of that city, to India, at the request of a

e Conversion of India, p. 12. Pressense, The Earlier Years
of Christianity, Vol. II. p. 271. The History of Mathura
(Muttra), by F. S. Growse, on the glorification of the Divine

Name.

PREFACE TO THE "DIVINE NAMES." Xill

delegation from India for that purpose. Pantaenus
discovered, on his arrival, that St. Bartholomew (one
of the twelve) had preached the coming of Jesus
Christ, in that country. Pantaenus found a copy of
the Hebrew Gospel of St. Matthew in India. Now,
by the extract, contained in the Scholia of Maximus,
from the Scholia of Dionysius of Alexandria (250)
upon the Divine Names, and also by the extract
from a letter of the same Dionysius, recently dis-
covered in the British Museum f (Nos. 12151-2),
we know that the writings of Dionysius the Areo-
pagite were known and treasured in Alexandria
a few years after the death of Pantaenus. Can we
reasonably doubt that Pantaenus took the writings
of Dionysius, and the more abstract works of Hiero-
theus, to India? Have we not here an explanation
of the remarkable similarity between the Hindu phi-
losophy, as expressed by Sankara^ in the eighth, and
Ramanuja in the thirteenth century, and the " Divine
Names ? " Sankara treats of the Supreme as " abso-
lutely One ; " Ramanuja as " non-dual, with quali-
fication." Both these truths are combined and ex-
pressed in Dionysius.

I cannot but believe that many of the beautiful ex-
pressions about Vishnu, the Redeemer, in the Rama-
yana of Tulsi-das are Christian Truths under a Hindu
dress h . Many learned Hindus affirm that it is need-

f Vidieu, p. 73.

« Ankara's doctrine, Sir Monier Williams, " Brahmanism,"
p. 55. Ramanuja' s explained, "Brahmanism," p. 119, &c.
J, Murray.

h At Council of Nicea in 325, Johannes, the Metropolitan

Xiv PREFACE TO THE "DIVINE NAMES."

less for them to become Christian, because they have
a more exalted conception of the Supreme God than
Christians themselves. I submit that the " Divine
Names " will be instrumental in bringing India to the
Christian Faith, in the best and only effectual way—
by communities and not by individuals— through the
most learned and devout, and not through the most
ignorant.

Dionysius was first converted, and then, through
him, those who naturally and properly followed his
lead.

Lucius Flavius Dexter.

Dexter was a friend of Jerome. Jerome even ad-
dresses him as "films amicus," and describes him
as " clarus apud saeculum et Christi fidei deditus."

Dexter became Prefect of the Pretorian Oriental
Guards, and was one of the most illustrious states-
men of his time. He resided two years in Toledo.
From the archives of the Church of Toledo and other
cities he compiled a chronicle from a.d. i to a.d. 430,
giving a brief summary of the Church events in Spain.
That chronicle he dedicated to Jerome, who enrolled
both Chronicle and Author amongst his " illustrious
men." It was at the request of Dexter that Jerome
wrote his book on Ecclesiastical Writers. Among
the earliest Bishops of Toledo, Dexter describes a re-
markable man,— Marcellus— surnamed Eugenius, on
account of his noble birth.

of Persia, signed also as "of the great India." Merv was an
Episcopa See, a.d. 334. Con. of India, pp. IS — 3 1 -

PREFACE TO THE " DIVINE NAMES." XV

Bivarius says he was of the house and family of
Caesar, being uncle to the Emperor Hadrian. Mar-
cellus was consecrated Bishop by Dionysius the Areo-
pagite at Aries, and sent to Toledo. Respecting
him, Dexter records that Dionysius dedicated the
books of the Divine Names to him, u.c. 851, a.d. 98.
Dexter further records that Dionysius surnamed
Marcellus, Timothy, on account of his excellent
disposition. Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, relates
that Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus, to whom the
works of Dionysius were originally dedicated, was
martyred during the reign of Nerva, a.d. 96-97.
Upon the return of Dionysius to Gaul, after his visit
to St. John, released from Patmos, we find him calling
his friend Marcellus, Timothy, and presenting the
books of the "Divine Names" to him, a.d. 98; in
order that he might still have a Timothy on earth, —
" in vivis " — although his first Timothy, " migravit ad
Christum," a.d. 97.

This touch of nature, preserved in a chronicle,
written more than 1400 years ago, by an illustrious
statesman, who was son of a Bishop celebrated for
learning and sanctity, may fairly be deemed, by an
unprejudiced mind, reasonable proof that the "Divine
Names " were written previous to a.d. 98.

N.B. As the result of some research I affirm that
our Saviour's last commission is the Key to Church
history in the first century. As He commanded the
Apostles to preach the Gospel throughout the world,
so the Gospel was preached when St. Paul wrote his

Xvi PREFACE TO THE "DIVINE NAMES.

Epistle to the Colossians, Chap. I. v. 23 (row kt) P v X -
Oeuros iv Trdat] Kriaei), and with such success amongst
the most learned and noble, that, but for the cruel
massacre of Flavius ' Clemens and his family for the
Christian Faith, there would have been a Christian
Emperor in the first century. As Jesus said, " Ye
shall be witnesses of Me unto the uttermost parts
of the earth " (Acts Chap. I. v. 8), so the Apostles
planted the Church of Christ in Gaul, Spain and
Britain, with its threefold ministry ; and by the end
of the second century there was an organised Church
throughout each of those territories \

Dr. Schneider informs me " that in Germany they
now admit that the external proofs are in favour
of genuineness of Dionysius, but they confine them-
selves to the internal proofs. They pretend that
the doctrine is too clear and precise to have been
written in the apostolic age."

How could the chief Areopagite, the convert and
companion of St. Paul, and the familiar friend of
St. John, Theologus, have understood theology ! !

i Burton, Ecc. Hist., Vol. I. p. 367-

* Mansi I. 698, Jaffi. Regesta Rom. Pon. 2nd Ed., p. 10,
by Ewald.

DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE,
ON DIVINE NAMES.

CAPUT I.
To my Fellow Presbyter, Timothy,

DlONYSIUS THE PRESBYTER.

What is the purpose of the discourse, and what the
tradition concerning Divine Names.

Section I,

Now then, O Blessed One, after the Theological
Outlines*, I will pass to the interpretation of the
Divine Names, as best I can.

But, let the rule of the Oracles be here also
prescribed for us, viz., that we shall establish the
truth of the things spoken concerning God, not
in the persuasive words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit-moved power of the
Theologians, by aid of which we are brought into
contact with things unutterable and unknown, in
a manner unutterable and unknown, in propor-
tion to the superior union of the reasoning and
intuitive faculty and operation within us. By no
means then is it permitted to speak, or even to
think, anything, concerning the superessential and
hidden Deity, beyond those things divinely revealed
to us in the sacred Oracles b . For Agnosia (supra-

■ Cap. 3. Mystic Theology. b lb. c. I. s. 3.

2 Dionysius the Areopagite,

knowledge) of its superessentiality above reason and
mind and essence — to it must we attribute the super-
essential science, so far aspiring to the Highest, as
the ray of the supremely Divine Oracles imparts
itself, whilst we restrain ourselves in our approach to
the higher glories by prudence and piety as regards
things Divine. For, if we must place any confidence
in the All Wise and most trustworthy Theology,
things Divine are revealed and contemplated in pro-
portion to the capacity of each of the minds, since
the supremely Divine Goodness distributes Divinely
its immeasurableness (as that which cannot be
contained) with a justice which preserves those
whose capacity is limited. For, as things intelligible
cannot be comprehended and contemplated by
things of sense, and things uncompounded and un-
formed by things compounded and formed ; and the
intangible and unshaped formlessness of things
without body, by those formed according to the
shapes of bodies ; in accordance with the self- same
analogy of the truth, the superessential Illimitability
is placed above things essential, and the Unity above
mind above the Minds j and the One above con-
ception is inconceivable to all conceptions ; and the
Good above word is unutterable by word — Unit
making one every unit, and superessential essence
and mind inconceivable, and Word unutterable,
speechlessness and inconception d , and nameless-
ness— being after the manner of no existing being,
and Cause of being to all, but Itself not being,

c a\oyia. d aforjaia.

on Divine Names. 3

as beyond every essence, and as It may manifest
Itself properly and scientifically concerning Itself.

Section II.
Concerning this then, as has been said, the super-
essential and hidden Deity, it is not permitted to
speak or even to think beyond the things divinely
revealed to us in the sacred Oracles. For even as
Itself has taught (as becomes Its goodness) in the
Oracles, the science and contemplation of Itself
in Its essential Nature is beyond the reach of all
created things, as towering superessentially above
all. And you will find many of the Theologians,
who have celebrated It, not only as invisible and
incomprehensible, but also as inscrutable and un-
traceable, since there is no trace of those who have
penetrated to Its hidden infinitude. The Good
indeed is not entirely uncommunicated to any single
created being, but benignly sheds forth its super-
essential ray, persistently fixed in Itself, by illumin-
ations analagous to each several being, and elevates
to Its permitted contemplation and communion and
likeness, those holy minds, who, as far as is lawful
and reverent, strive after It, and who are neither im-
potently boastful towards that which is higher than
the harmoniously imparted Divine manifestation, nor,
in regard to a lower level, lapse downward through
their inclining to the worse, but who elevate them-
selves determinately and unwaveringly to the ray
shining upon them ; and, by their proportioned love

4 Dionysius the Areopagite,

of permitted illuminations, are elevated with a holy
reverence, prudently and piously, as on new wings.

Section III.
Following then, these, the supremely Divine stand-
ards, which also govern the whole holy ranks of the
supercelestial orders, — whilst honouring the unre-
vealed of the Godhead which is beyond mind and
matter, with inscrutable and holy reverence of mind,
and things unutterable, with a prudent silence, we
elevate ourselves to the glories which illuminate us
in the sacred Oracles, and are led by their light to
the supremely Divine Hymns, by which we are
supermundanely enlightened and moulded to the
sacred Songs of Praise, so as both to see the su-
premely Divine illuminations given to us by them,
according to our capacities, and to praise the good-
giving Source of every holy manifestation of light, as
Itself has taught concerning Itself in the sacred
Oracles. For instance, that It is cause and origin
and essence and life of all things j and even of those
who fall away from It, both recalling and resur-
rection ; and of those who have lapsed to the per-
version of the Divine likeness, renewal and reforma-
tion ; of those who are tossed about in a sort of ir-
religious unsteadiness, a religious stability ; of those
who have continued to stand, steadfastness : of those
who are being conducted to It, a protecting Con-
ductor ; of those being illuminated, illumination ; of
those being perfected, source of perfection ; of those
being deified, source of deification ; of those being

on Divine Names. 5

simplified, simplification ; of those being unified,
unity; of every origin superessentially super-original
origin ; and of the Hidden, as far as is right, bene-
ficent communication ; and, in one word, the life of
the living, and essence of things that be ; of all life and
essence, origin and cause ; because Its goodness pro-
duces and sustains things that be, in their being e .

Section IV.
These things we have learned from the Divine
Oracles, and you will find all the sacred Hymnology,
so to speak, of the Theologians arranging the Names
of God with a view to make known and praise the
beneficent progressions of the Godhead. Hence, we
see in almost every theological treatise the Godhead
religiously celebrated, both as Monad and unity, on
account of the simplicity and oneness of Its super-
natural indivisibility from which, as an unifying
power, we are unified, and when our divided diver-
sities have been folded together, in a manner super-
mundane, we are collected into a godlike unit and
divinely-imitated union; but, also as Triad, on
account of the tri-personal manifestation of the
superessential productiveness, from which all pater-
nity in heaven and on earth is, and is named ; also,
as cause of things existing, since all things were
brought into being on account of Its creative good-
ness, both wise and good, because all things, whilst
preserving the properties of their own nature unim-

e Sia riji/ avTTJs els rb etuai ra tvra irapaKTiK^v kuI (Twox^k^v
ayadSTTfra.

6 Dionysius the Areopagite,

paired, are filled with every inspired harmony and
holy comeliness, but pre-eminently, as loving towards
man, because It truly and wholly shared, in one of Its
Persons (subsistences), in things belonging to us,
recalling to Itself and replacing the human extremity,
out of which, in a manner unutterable, the simplex
Jesus f was composed, and the Everlasting took
a temporal duration, and He, Who is superessen-
tially exalted above every rank throughout all nature,
became within our nature, whilst retaining the
unchangeable and unconfused steadfastness of His
own properties. And whatever other divinely-wrought
illuminations, conformable to the Oracles, the secret
tradition of our inspired leaders bequeathed to us for
our enlightenment, in these also we have been in-
itiated ; now indeed, according to our capacity,
through the sacred veils of the loving-kindness
towards man, made known in the Oracles and hier-
archical traditions, which envelop things intellectual
in things sensible, and things superessential in things
that are; and place forms and shapes around the
formless and shapeless, and multiply and fashion the
supernatural and formless simplicity in the variedness
of the divided symbols; but, then, when we have
become incorruptible and immortal, and have reached
the Christlike and most blessed repose, according to
the Divine saying, we shall be " ever with the Lord,"
fulfilled, through all-pure contemplations, with the
visible manifestation of God covering us with glory,
in most brilliant splendours, as the disciples in the

on Divine Names. 7

most Divine Transfiguration, and participating in
His gift of spiritual light, with unimpassioned and
immaterial mind ; and, even in the union beyond
conception, through the agnostic and most blessed
efforts after rays of surpassing brilliancy, in a more
Divine imitation of the supercelestial minds. For
we shall be equal to the angels, as the truth of the
Oracles affirms, and sons of God, being sons of the
resurrection. But now, to the best of our ability,
we use symbols appropriate to things Divine, and
from these again we elevate ourselves, according to
our degree, to the simple and unified truth of the
spiritual visions ; and after our every conception of
things godlike, laying aside our mental energies, we
cast ourselves, to the best of our ability, towards the
superessential ray, in which all the terms of every
kind of knowledge pre-existed in a manner beyond
expression, which it is neither possible to conceive
nor express, nor entirely in any way to contemplate,
on account of Its being pre-eminently above all
things, and super-unknown, and Its having pre-
viously contained within Itself, superessentially, the
whole perfections of all kinds of essential knowledge
and power, and Its being firmly fixed by Its absolute
power, above all, even the supercelestial minds.
For, if all kinds of knowledge are of things existing,
and are limited to things existing, that, beyond all
essence, is also elevated above all knowledge.

Section V.
And yet, if It is superior to every expression and
every knowledge, and is altogether placed above

8 Dionysius the Areopagtte,

mind and essence, — being such as embraces and
unites and comprehends and anticipates all things,
but Itself is altogether incomprehensible to all, and
of It, there is neither perception nor imagination,
nor surmise, nor name, nor expression, nor contact,
nor science ; — in what way can our treatise thoroughly
investigate the meaning of the Divine Names, when
the superessential Deity is shewn to be without
Name, and above Name ?

But, as we said when we put forth the Theological
Outlines, it is not possible either to express or to
conceive what the One, the Unknown, the Super-
essential self-existing Good is, — I mean the threefold
Unity, the alike God, and the alike Good. But even
the unions, such as befit angels, of the holy Powers,
whether we must call them efforts after, or recep-
tions from, the super-Unknown and surpassing
Goodness, are both unutterable and unknown, and
exist in those angels alone who, above angelic know-
ledge, are deemed worthy of them. The godlike
minds (men) made one by these unions, through
imitation of angels as far as attainable (since it is
during cessation of every mental energy that such
an union as this of the deified minds towards the
super-divine light takes place) celebrate It most ap-
propriately through the abstraction of all created
things — enlightened in this matter, truly and super-
naturally from the most blessed union towards It —
that It is Cause indeed of all things existing, but
Itself none of them, as being superessentially elevated
above all. To none, indeed, who are lovers of the
Truth above all Truth, is it permitted to celebrate

on Divine Names. 9

the supremely-Divine Essentiality— that which is the
super-subsistence of the super-goodness, — neither as
word or power, neither as mind or life or essence,
but as pre-eminently separated from every condition,
movement, life, imagination, surmise, name, word,
thought, conception, essence, position, stability,
union, boundary, infinitude, all things whatever. But
since, as sustaining source of goodness, by the very
fact of Its being, It is cause of all things that be, from
all created things must we celebrate s the benevolent
Providence of the Godhead ; for all things are both
around It and for It, and It is before all things, and
all things in It consist, and by Its being is the pro-
duction and sustenance of the whole, and all things
aspire to It— the intellectual and rational, by means
of knowledge— things inferior to these, through the
senses, and other things by living movement, or
substantial and habitual aptitude.

Section VI.

The theologians, having knowledge of this, cele-
brate It, both without Name and from every Name.
Without name, as when they say that the Godhead
Itself, in one of those mystical apparitions of the
symbolical Divine manifestation, rebuked him who
said, "What is thy name?" and as leading him
away from all knowledge of the Divine Name, said
this, " and why dost thou ask my Name ? " and this
(Name) " is wonderful."

And is not this in reality the wonderful Name,

8 in TrixvTwv rS>v alriarwv v/xv7)T60P.

io Dionysius the Areopagite,

that which is above every Name — the Nameless— that
fixed above every name which is named, whether in
this age or in that which is to come ? Also, as
"many named," as when they again introduce It as
saying, " I am He, Who is— the Life— the Light— the
God — the Truth." And when the wise of God them-
selves celebrate Him, as Author of all things, under
many Names, from all created things— as Good— as
Beautiful — as Wise— as Beloved— as God of gods—
as Lord of lords— as Holy of Holies — as Eternal — as
Being— as Author of Ages— as Provider of Life— as
Wisdom— as Mind— as Word— as Knowing— as pre-
eminently possessing all the treasures of all know-
ledge — as Power — as Powerful — as King of kings—
as Ancient of days — as never growing old — and Un-
changeable — as Preservation — as Righteousness — as
Sanctification — as Redemption — as surpassing all
things in greatness — and as in a gentle breeze. — Yea,
they also say that He is in minds, and in souls, and
in bodies, and in heaven and in earth, and at once,
the same in the same — in the world — around the
world — above the world — supercelestial, superessen-
tial, sun, , star — fire — water — spirit — dew — cloud —
self-hewn stone and rock — all things existing — and
not one of things existing.

Section VII.

Thus, then, the "Nameless" befits the cause

of all, which is also above all, as do all the names

of things existing, in order that there may be strictly

a kingly rule over the whole; and that all things

on Divine Names. 1 1

may be around It and dependent upon It, as cause,
as beginning, as end. And Itself, according to the
Divine saying, may be the " all in all," and truly
sung as of all, producing, directing and perfecting and
sustaining guard, and shrine, and turning towards It-
self, and that uniformly, irresistibly and pre-eminently.
For It is not only cause of sustenance, or life, or per-
fection,— so that from this or that forethought alone
the Goodness above Name should be named, but It
previously embraced in Itself all things existing, abso-
lutely and without limit, by the complete benefactions
of His one and all-creating forethought, and by all
created things in joint accord It is celebrated and

named.

Section VIII.

Further also, the Theologians do not honour alone
the Names of God which are given from universal or
particular Providences, or objects of His forethought ;
but also from certain occasional Divine Visions, in
the sacred temples or elsewhere, which enlightened
the initiated or the Prophets, they name the surpas-
sing bright Goodness which is above Name, after one
or other causes and powers, and clothe It in forms
and shapes of man, or fire, or electron, and celebrate
Its eyes and ears, and locks of hair, and countenance,
and hands, and back, and wings, and arms, and hinder
parts and feet. Also they assign to It crowns h and
seats, and drinking vessels and bowls, and certain
other things mystical, concerning which, in our Sym-
bolic Theology, we will speak as best we can. But

h Letter to Titus.

1 2 Dionysius the Areopagite,

now, collecting from the Oracles so much as serves
the purpose of our present treatise, and using the
things aforesaid, as a kind of Canon, and keeping our
eyes upon them, let us advance to the unfolding of
the Names of God, which fall within the range of our
understanding, and, what the hierarchical rule always
teaches us throughout every phase of theology, let us
become initiated (to speak authoritatively) in the
godlike contemplations with a god-enlightened con-
ception. And let us bring religious ears to the
unfoldings of the Holy Names of God, implanting
the Holy in the Holy, according to the Divine
tradition, and removing it from the laughter and
jeers of the uninitiated ; yea, rather, if certain men
really are such, purifying them from their fighting
against God in this matter. Be it thine, then, to
guard these things, O excellent Timothy, according
to the most holy leading, and to make the things
Divine neither spoken nor known to the uninitiated.
For myself, may Almighty God give me to celebrate,
in a manner worthy of God, the numerous beneficent
Names of the uncalled and unnamed Deity ; and
may He not take away a word of truth from my
mouth.

CAPUT II,

Section I.

Concerning common and distinctive theology, and

what is the Divine Unioti and distinction.

Let then the self-existent Goodness be sung from

the Oracles as defining and manifesting the whole

on Divine Names. 13

supremely-Divine-Subsistence in its essential nature.
For, what else is there to, learn from the sacred
theology, when it affirms that the Godhead Itself,
leading the way, says, "Why dost thou ask me
concerning the Good? — None is Good except God
alone." Now, this, we have thoroughly demon-
strated elsewhere, that always, all the God-becoming
Names of God, are celebrated by the Oracles, not
partitively, but as applied to the whole and entire
and complete and full Godhead, and that all of them
are referred impartitively, absolutely, unreservedly,
entirely, to all the Entirety of the entirely complete
and every Deity. And verily as we have mentioned
in the Theological Outlines, if any one should say
that this is not spoken concerning the whole Deity,
he blasphemes, and dares, without right, to cleave
asunder the super-unified Unity.

We must affirm, then, that this is to be received
respecting the whole Deity. For even the essen-
tially Good Word Himself said, "I am Good 1 ."
And a certain one of the God-rapt Prophets cele-
brates the Spirit as "the GoodJ." And again this,
" I am He, Who is k ." If they shall say that this is
said, not of the whole Deity, but should violently
limit it to one part, how will they understand this ?
" These things, saith He, Who is, Who was, Who is
to come, the Almighty V and " Thou art the same m ,"
and this, " Spirit of truth, which is, which proceedeth
from the Father n ." And if they say that the su-
premely Divine Life is not coextensive with the

» Matt. xx. 15. J Neh. ix. 20. k Ex. iii. 14.

1 Rev. i. 8. m Heb. i. 12. n John xv. 26.

J 4 Dionysius the Areopagite,

whole, how is the sacred Word true which said,
" As the Father raiseth the dead and maketh alive,
so also the Son maketh alive whom He will °," and
that "the Spirit is He, Who maketh alive p ?" But,
that the whole Deity holds the Lordship over the
whole, one can scarcely say, as I think how many
times, in reference to the Paternal Deity, or the
Filial, the word "Lord" is repeated in the Word
of God, as applied to Father and Son \ But the
Spirit also is Lord r . And "the beautiful and the
wise" are also sung respecting the whole Deity.
And the light, and the deifying, and the cause,
and whatever pertains to the whole Godhead, the
Oracles introduce into all the supremely Divine
hymnody— collectively, when they say "all things
are from Almighty God ; " but, specifically, as when
they say, "all things were made through Him and
to Him," and "all things in Him consist," and
" Thou shalt send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall
be made." And, that one may speak summarily,
the supremely Divine Word Himself said, " I and
the Father are One," and "all that the Father hath
are Mine," and, "All Mine are Thine, and Thine,
Mine" And again, whatever pertains to the Father
and Himself, He attributes to the supremely Divine
Spirit, collectively and in common— the works of
God — the homage, the fontal and ceaseless cause
and the distribution of the goodly gifts. And I
think, none of those, who have been nourished in
the Divine Oracles with unprejudiced conceptions,

John v. 21. p lb. vi. 63. 1 1 Cor. i. 30.

r 2 Cor. iii. 17.

on Divine Names. 1 5

will oppose this, that all things befitting God belong

to the whole Godhead, according to the divinely

perfect Word. Since, then, we have demonstrated

and defined these things from the Oracles, — here

indeed partially, but elsewhere sufficiently — we will

undertake to unfold every Divine Name whatsoever,

which is to be received as referring to the whole

Deity.

Section II.

But if any one should say that we introduce
in so doing a confusion, in disparagement of the
distinction which befits God, we do not think that
such a statement as this is itself sufficient to con-
vince that it is true. For, if there is any one who
has placed himself entirely in opposition to the
Oracles, he will be also entirely apart from our
philosophy; and, if he has no care for the divine
Wisdom of the Oracles, how shall we care for his
guidance to the theological science? But, if he
regards the truth of the Oracles, we also, using this
canon and illumination, will advance unwaveringly
to the answer, as best we can, by affirming that
theology transmits some things as common, but
others as distinctive ; and neither is it meet to divide
the common, nor to confuse the distinctive; but
that following It according to our ability, we ought
to rise to the Divine splendours ; for, by taking
thence the Divine revelations, as a most excellent
canon of truth, we strive to guard the things lying
there, in their native simplicity and integrity and
identity— being ourselves guarded in our guard of

1 6 Dionysius the Areopagite,

the Oracles, and from these receiving strength to
guard those who guard them.

Section III.
The (Names) then, common to the whole Deity,
as we have demonstrated from the Oracles, by many
instances in the Theological Outlines, are the Super-
Good, the Super-God, the Superessential, the Super-
Living, the Super-Wise, and whatever else belongs
to the superlative abstraction ; with which also, all
those denoting Cause, the Good, the Beautiful, the
Being, the Life-producing, the Wise, and whatever
Names are given to the Cause of all Good, from
His goodly gifts. But the distinctive Names are
the superessential name and property of Father
and Son and Spirit, since no interchange or com-
munity in these is in any way introduced. But there
is a further distinction, viz., the complete and un-
altered existence of Jesus amongst us, and all the
mysteries of love towards man actually existing
within it.

Section IV.

But it is rather necessary, I suppose, to resume
and to set forth the complete fashion of the Divine
union and distinction, in order that the whole dis-
course may be seen at a glance to reject everything
ambiguous and indistinct, and to define critically
a.and distinctly the proper Names, as far as possible,
think-, as I said elsewhere, the sacred instructors of
the Divpological tradition call the " Divine Unions "
John vH and unrevealed sublimities of the super-

on Divine Names. 17

unutterable and super-unknown Isolation; but the
" distinctions," the goodly progressions and manifes-
tations of the Godhead ; and, following the sacred
Oracles, they mention also properties of the aforesaid
"Union;" and again of the distinction, that there
are certain specific unions and distinctions. For
example, with regard to the Divine Union, that
is, the Superessentiality, there is kindred and com-
mon to the One-springing Triad, the superessential
sustaining Source, the super-Divine Deity, the super-
good Goodness, the supreme identity of the whole
supreme Idiosyncrasy, the Oneness above source
of one ; the Unspeakable ; the Much-speaking, the
Agnosia, the Comprehended by all, the Placing
of all, the Abstraction of all, that which is above
all affirmation and abstraction, the abiding and
steadfastness in each other, if I may so speak,
wholly super-united and in no part commingled
of the One-springing Persons, just as lights of
lamps (to use sensible illustrations familiar to our
capacity), when in one house, are both wholly dis-
tinct in each other throughout, and keep the distinc-
tion from each other specifically and perfectly main-
tained, being one in distinction and distinct in
union ; and then, indeed, we may see in a house,
in which are many lamps, the lights of all united
to form one certain light and lighting up one com-
bined 8 radiance ; and, as I suppose, no one would
be able to distinguish in the air containing all the
lights the light of one or other lamp from the rest,

• aSiaKpiTov,
C

1 8 Dionysius the Areopagite,

and to see one without the other, since whole in
whole are mixed together without being mingled.
But, if any one were to take out from the chamber
one particular burner, the whole light belonging
to it will depart with it ; no particle of the other
lights being drawn along with it, nor any of its own
light left with the other. For there was, as I said,
the complete union of all with all, unmingled through-
out, and in no part confused, and this actually in
a body, the air, the light even itself being dependent
on the material fire. Whence we affirm that the
superessential Union is fixed above not only the
unions in bodies, but also above those in souls them-
selves, and in minds themselves, which, in a manner
unmingled and supermundane, the Godlike and super-
celestial Illuminations, whole through whole, possess,
as beseems a participation analagous to those who
participate in the Union elevated above all.

Section V.
But there is a distinction in the superessential
nomenclature of God, not only that which I have
mentioned, namely, that each of the One-springing
Persons is fixed in the union itself, unmingled and
unconfused ; but also that the properties of the
superessential Divine Production are not conver-
tible in regard to one another. The Father is sole
Fountain of the superessential Deity, since the
Father is not Son, nor the Son, Father; since the
hymns reverently guard their own characteristics for
each of the supremely Divine Persons. These then

on Divine Names. 1 9

are the unions and distinctions within the unutterable
Union and sustaining Source. But, if the goodly
progression of the Divine Union,, multiplying itself
super-uniquely through Goodness, and taking to
itself many forms, is also a Divine distinction, yet,
common within the Divine distinction, are the re-
sistless distributions, the substance-giving, the life-
giving, the wise-making, and the other gifts of the
Goodness, Cause of all, after which from the par-
ticipations and those participating are celebrated
the things imparticipatively participated. And this
is kindred and common, and one, to the whole
Divinity, that it is all entire, participated by each
of the Participants, and by none partially. Just
as a point in a circle's centre participates in all
the circumjacent* straight lines in the circle, and
as many impressions of a seal participate in the
archetypal seal, and in each of the impressions
the seal is whole and the same, and in none partial
in any respect. But superior to these is the im-
partibility of the Deity — Cause of all — from the fact
that there is no contact with it. Nor has it any
commingled communion with the things partici-
pating.

Section VI.

And yet some one might say the seal is not whole
and the same in the images throughout. But of
this the seal is not the cause, for it imparts itself
all and the same to each ; but the difference of the
recipients makes the figures dissimilar, since the
1 The radii.

20 Dionysius the Areopagite,

archetype is one and complete and the same. For
instance, if the wax were soft and impressionable,
and smooth and unstamped, and neither unimpres-
sionable and hard, nor running and dissolving, it
will have the figure clear and sharp and fixed. But
if it should lack any of the aforesaid aptitudes, this
will be the cause of the non-participative and un-
figured and indistinct, and whatever else arises from
inaptitude for reception. Further, there is a dis-
tinction from the goodly work of God towards us,
in that the superessential Word was invested with
being amongst us— from us — wholly and truly, and
did and suffered whatever things are choice and
pre-eminent in His human work of God u . For in
these, the Father and the Spirit in no respect com-
municated, except perhaps, one might say, as regards
the benign and philanthropic purpose, and as regards
all the pre-eminent and unutterable work of God
which the unchangeable, qua God and Word of God,
did when He had been born amongst us. Thus
we, too, strive to unite and distinguish in the Word
the things Divine, as the things Divine themselves
are united and distinguished.

Section VII.
Now we have set forth in the Theological Outlines
whatever Divine Causes we have found in the
Oracles, of these unions, and distinctions, by treat-
ing each separately, according to our ability; by
explaining some things, by the infallible Word, and

n ttjj iLvBpwiriKrjs ainov Oeovpytas.

on Divine Names. 2 1

unfolding them; and by conducting the religious
and unpolluted mind to the bright visions of the
Oracles ; but others, as being full of mystery, by ap-
proaching them according to the Divine tradition,
which is superior to mental energy. For all the
Divine properties, even those revealed to us, are
known by the participations alone ; and themselves,
such as they are in their own source and abode, are
above mind and all essence and knowledge. For
instance, if we have named the superessential Hid-
denness, God, or Life, or Essence, or Light, or Word
(\6yos), we have no other thought than that the
powers brought to us from It are deifying, or
essentiating, or life-bearing, or wisdom-imparting;
but to Itself we approach during the cessation of all
the intellectual energies, seeing no deification, or life,
or essence whatever, such as is strictly like the Cause
pre-eminently elevated above all. Again, that the
Father is fontal Deity, but the Lord Jesus and the
Spirit are, if one may so speak, God-planted shoots,
and as it were Flowers and superessential Lights of
the God-bearing Deity, we have received from the
holy Oracles ; but how these things are, it is neither
possible to say, nor to conceive.

Section VIII.
But. up to this point, our utmost power of mental
energy carries us, namely, that all divine paternity
and sonship have been bequeathed from the Source
of paternity and Source of sonship— pre-eminent
above all— both to us and to the supercelestial

22 Dionysius the Areopagite,

powers, from which the godlike become both gods,
and sons of gods, and fathers of gods, and are
named Minds, such a paternity and sonship being
of course accomplished spiritually, i.e. incorporeally,
immaterially, intellectually— since the supremely
Divine Spirit is seated above all intellectual imma-
teriality, and deification, and the Father and the
Son are pre-eminently elevated above all divine pater-
nity and sonship. For there is no strict likeness,
between the caused and the causes. The caused
indeed possess the accepted likenesses of the causes,
but the causes themselves are elevated and estab-
lished above the caused, according to the ratio of
their proper origin. And, to use illustrations suit-
able to ourselves, pleasures and pains are said to be
productive of pleasure and pain, but these them-
selves feel neither pleasure nor pain. And fire,
whilst heating and burning, is not said to be burnt
and heated. And, if any one should say that the self-
existent Life lives, or that the self-existent Light is
enlightened, in my view he will not speak correctly,
unless, perhaps, he should say this after another
fashion, that the properties of the caused are abun-
dantly and essentially pre-existent in the causes.

Section IX.
Further also, the most conspicuous fact of all
theology— the God-formation of Jesus amongst us—
is both unutterable by every expression and unknown
to every mind, even to the very foremost of the most
reverend angels. The fact indeed that He took sub-

on Divine Names. 23

stance as man, we have received as a mystery, but
we do not know in what manner, from virginal
bloods, by a different law, beyond nature, He was
formed, and how, with dry feet, having a bodily bulk
and weight of matter, He marched upon the liquid
and unstable substance x ; and so, with regard to all
the other features of the super-physical physiology of
Jesus. Now, we have elsewhere sufficiently spoken
of these things, and they have been celebrated by
our illustrious leader, in his Theological Ele7tients, in
a manner far beyond natural ability — things which
that illustrious man acquired, either from the sacred
theologians, or comprehended from the scientific
search of the Oracles, from manifold struggles and
investigations respecting the same, or was instructed
from a sort of more Divine Inspiration, not only
having learnt, but having felt the pangs of things
Divine, and from his sympathy with them, if I may
so speak, having been perfected to their untaught
and mystic union and acceptance. And that we
may display, in fewest words, the many and blessed
visions of his most excellent intelligence, the follow-
ing are the things he says, concerning the Lord
Jesus, in the Theological Elements compiled by him.

Section X.
From the Theological Elements of the most holy

Hierotheus.
Deity of the Lord Jesus, — the Cause and Com-
pleting of all, which preserves the parts concordant

x Letter IV.

24 Dionysius the Areopagite,

with the whole, and is neither part nor whole, and
whole and part, as embracing in Itself everything
both part and whole, and being above and before —
is perfect indeed in the imperfect, as source of per-
fection, but imperfect in the perfect, as superperfect,
and pre-perfect — Form producing form, in things
without form, as Source of form — formless in the
forms, as above form, — Essence, penetrating without
stain the essences throughout, and superessential,
exalted above every essence— setting bounds to the
whole principalities and orders, and established
above every principality and order. It is measure
also of things existing, and age, and above age, and
before age— full, in things that need, superfull in
things full, unutterable, unspeakable, above mind,
above life, above essence. It has the supernatural,
supernaturally,— the superessential, superessentially.
Hence, since through love towards man, He has
come even to nature, and really became substantial,
and the Super-God lived as Man r (may He be mer-
ciful with regard to the things we are celebrating,
which are beyond mind and expression), and in these
He has the supernatural and super-substantial, not
only in so far as He communicated with us without
alteration and without confusion, suffering no loss
as regards His superfulness, from His unutterable
emptying of Himself— but also, because the newest
of all new things, He was in our physical condition
super-physical — in things substantial, super-substan-
tial, excelling all the things — of us — from us —
above us.

t Letter IV.

on Divine Names. 25

Section XL
This then is sufficient on these matters, let us now
advance to the purpose of the discourse by unfolding,
to the best of our ability, the kindred and common
Names of the Divine distinction. And, in order
that we may first distinctly define everything, in
order, we call Divine distinction, as we have said,
the goodly progressions of the Godhead. For, by
being given to all things existing, and pouring forth
the whole imparted goods in abundance, It is dis-
tinguished uniformly, and multiplied uniquely, and
is moulded into many from the One, whilst being
self-centred. For example, since Almighty God is
superessentially Being, but the Being is bequeathed
to things being, and produces the whole Essences ;
that One Being is said to be fashioned in many forms,
by the production from Itself of the many beings,
whilst It remains undiminished, and One in the mul-
tiplicity, and Unified during the progression, and
complete in the distinction, both by being super-
essentially exalted above all beings, and by the
unique production of the whole ; and by the un-
lessened stream of His undiminished distributions.
Further, being One, and having distributed the One,
both to every part and whole, both to one and to
multitude, He is One, as it were, superessentially,
being neither a part of the multitude, nor whole
from parts ; and thus is neither one, nor partakes of
one, nor has the one. But, beyond these, He is
One, above the one, to things existing — One, and
multitude indivisible, unfilled superfulness, producing

2 6 Dionysius the Areopagite,

and perfecting and sustaining every one thing and
multitude. Again, by the Deification from Itself, by
the Divine likeness of many who become gods, ac-
cording to their several capacity, there seems, and is
said to be, a distinction and multiplication of the
One God, but He is none the less the Supreme
God, and super-God, superessentially One God,—
undivided in things divided, unified in Himself, both
unmingled and unmultiplied in the many. And
when the common conductor of ourselves, and of
our leader to the Divine gift of light,- he, who is
great in Divine mysteries— the light of the world-
had thought out this in a manner above natural
ability, — he speaks as follows, from the inspiration of
God, in his sacred writings—" For, even if there are
who are called gods, whether in heaven or upon
earth, as there are gods many and lords many ; but
to us there is One God, the Father, from Whom are
all things, and we unto Him,— and One Lord Jesus
Christ, through Whom are all things, and we, through
Him z ." For, with regard to things Divine, the unions
overrule the distinctions, and precede them, and are
none the less unified, even after the self-centred and
unified distinction. These, the mutual and common
distinctions, or rather the goodly progressions of the
whole Deity, we will endeavour to the best of
our ability to celebrate from the Names of God,
which make them known in the Oracles; — first,
having laid down, as we have said, that every bene-
ficent Name of God, to whichever of the supremely
1 I Cor. viii. 5, 6.

on Divine Names. 2 7

Divine Persons it may be applied, is to be under-
stood with reference to the whole Supremely Divine
wholeness unreservedly.

♦

CAPUT III.
What is the power of prayer, and concerning the
blessed Hierotheus, and concerning reverence and
covena?ii in the Word of God.
Section I.
First, with your permission, let us examine the
all-perfect Name of Goodness, which is indicative
of the whole progressions of Almighty God, having
invoked the supremely good, and super-good Triad—
the Name which indicates Its whole best Provi-
dences. For, we must first be raised up to It,
as Source of good, by our prayers ; and by a nearer
approach to It, be initiated as to the all good gifts
which are established around It. For It is indeed
present to all, but all are not present to It. But
then, when we have invoked It, by all pure prayers
and unpolluted mind, and by our aptitude towards
Divine Union, we also are present to It. For, It is
not in a place, so that It should be absent from
a particular place, or should pass from one to
another. But even the statement that It is in all
existing beings, falls short of Its infinitude (which is)
above all, and embracing all. Let us then elevate
our very selves by our prayers to the higher ascent
of the Divine and good rays,— as if a luminous
chain being suspended from the celestial heights,

28 Dionysius the Areopagite,

and reaching down hither, we, by ever clutching
this upwards, first with one hand, and then with
the other, seem indeed to draw it down, but
in reality we do not draw it down, it being both
above and below, but ourselves are carried up-
wards to the higher splendours of the luminous
rays. Or, as if, after we have embarked on a ship,
and are holding on to the cables reaching from some
rock, such as are given out, as it were, for us to
seize, we do not draw the rock to us, but ourselves,
in fact, and the ship, to the rock. Or to take
another example, if any one standing on the ship
pushes away the rock by the sea shore, he will do
nothing to the stationary and unmoved rock, but
he separates himself from it, and in proportion
as he pushes that away, he is so far hurled from it.
Wherefore, before everything, and especially theology,
we must begin with prayer, not as though we our-
selves were drawing the power, which is everywhere
and nowhere present, but as, by our godly reminis-
cences and invocations, conducting ourselves to,
and making ourselves one with, it.

Section II.
Perhaps also, this is worthy of apology, that whilst
our illustrious leader, Hierotheus, is compiling his
Theological Elements, in a manner above natural
capacity, we, as if those were not sufficient, have
composed others, and this present theological treatise.
And yet, if that man had deigned to treat systemati-
cally all the theological treatises, and had gone

on Divine Names. 29

through the sum of all theology, by detailed ex-
positions, we should not have gone to such a height
of folly, or stupidity, as to have attempted alone
theological questions, either more lucidly or divinely
than he, or to indulge in vain talk by saying super-
fluously the same things twice over, and in addition
to do injustice to one, both teacher and friend, and
that we, who have been instructed from his dis-
courses, after Paul the Divine, should filch for our
own glorification his most illustrious contemplation
and elucidation. But, since in fact, he, whilst
teaching things divine, in a manner suitable to
presbyters, set forth comprehensive definitions, and
such as embraced many things in one, as were
suitable to us, and to as many as with us were
teachers of the newly-initiated souls, commanding us
to unfold and disentangle, by language commen-
surate with our ability, the comprehensive and
uniform compositions of the most intellectual ca-
pacity of that illustrious man ; and you, yourself,
have oftentimes urged us to this, and sent back
the very book, as being of transcendent value ;
for this reason, then, we too distinguish him as
a teacher of perfect and presbyterial conceptions
for those who are above the common people, even
as certain second Oracles, and next to the Anointed
of God. But for people, such as we are, we will
transmit things Divine, according to our capacity.
For, if strong meat belongs to the perfect, how great
perfection is required that the same should feed
others. Correctly, then, we have affirmed this, that

30 Dionysius the Areopagite,

the self-perceptive vision of the intelligible Oracles,
and their comprehensive teaching, needs presbyterial
power; but the science and the thorough teaching
of the reasons which lead to this, fittingly belong
to those purified and hallowed persons placed in
a subordinate position. And yet, we have insisted
upon this with the utmost care, that, as regards
the things that have been thoroughly investigated
by him, our divine leader, with an accurate elucida-
tion, we should not, in any way, handle the same
tautologically, for the same elucidation of the Divine
text expounded by him. For, amongst our inspired
hierarchs (when both we, as you know, and yourself,
and many of our holy brethren, were gathered
together to the depositing a of the Life-springing and
God-receptive body, and when there were present
also James, the brother of God, and Peter, the
foremost and most honoured pinnacle of the Theo-
logians, when it was determined after the depositing,
that every one of the hierarchs should celebrate,
as each was capable, the Omnipotent Goodness
of the supremely Divine Weakness), he, after the
Theologians, surpassed, as you know, all the other
divine instructors, being wholly entranced, wholly
raised from himself, and experiencing the pain of
his fellowship with the things celebrated, and was
regarded as an inspired and divine Psalmist by all,
by whom he was heard and seen and known, and
not known. And why should I say anything to thee
concerning the things there divinely spoken? For,

» ix\ tt\v deiav.

on Divine Names. 3 1

if I do not forget myself, many a time do I remember
to have heard from thee certain portions of those
inspired songs of praise; such was thy zeal, not
cursorily, to pursue things Divine.

Section III.
But to pass over the mystical things there, both
as forbidden to the multitude and as known to thee,
when it was necessary to communicate to the multi-
tude, and to bring as many as possible to the sacred
knowledge amongst ourselves, he so excelled the
majority of sacred teachers, both by use of time and
purity of mind, and accuracy of demonstrations, and
by his other sacred discourses, that we should
scarcely have dared to look so great a sun straight
in the face. For we are thus far conscious in our-
selves, and know, that we may neither advance to
understand sufficiently the intelligible of Divine
things, nor to express and declare the things spoken
of the divine knowledge. For, being far removed
from the skill of those divine men, as regards theolo-
gical truth, we are so inferior that we should have,
through excessive reverence, entirely come to this —
neither to hear nor to speak anything respecting divine
philosophy, unless we had grasped in our mind,
that we must not neglect the knowledge of things
divine received by us. And to this we were per-
suaded, not only by the innate aspirations of the
minds which always lovingly cling to the permitted
contemplation of the supernatural, but also by the
most excellent order itself of the Divine institutions,

3 2 Dionysius the Areopagite,

which prohibits us, on the one hand, from much
inquisition into things above us, as above our
degree, and as unattainable ; yet, on the other hand,
persistently urges us to graciously impart to others
also whatever is permitted and given to us to learn.
Yielding then to these considerations, and neither
shirking nor flinching from the attainable discovery
of things Divine, but also not bearing to leave
unassisted those who are unable to contemplate
things too high for us, we have brought ourselves
to composition, not daring indeed to introduce any-
thing new, but by more easy and more detailed
expositions to disentangle and elucidate the things
spoken by the Hierotheus indeed.

CAPUT IV.

Concerning Good, Light, Beauty, Love, Ecstasy,
Jealousy, and that the Evil is neither existent, nor
from existent, nor in things being.

Section I.

Be it so then. Let us come to the appellation
" Good," already mentioned in our discourse, which
the Theologians ascribe pre-eminently and exclusively
to the super-Divine Deity, as I conjecture, by calling
the supremely Divine Subsistence, Goodness ; and
because the Good, as essential Good, by Its being,
extends Its Goodness to all things that be.

For, even as our sun — not as calculating orchoos-
ing, but by its very being, enlightens all things able

on Divine Names. 33

to partake of its light in their own degree — so too
the Good — as superior to a sun, as the archetype par
excellence, is above an obscure image — by Its very
existence sends to all things that be, the rays of Its
whole goodness, according to their capacity. By
reason of these (rays) subsisted all the intelligible
and intelligent essences and powers and energies.
By reason of these they are, and have their life, con-
tinuous and undiminished, purified from all corrup-
tion and death and matter, and generation; and
separated from the unstable and fluctuating and
vacillating mutability, and are conceived of as in-
corporeal and immaterial, and as minds they think
in a manner supermundane, and are illuminated as to
the reasons of things, in a manner peculiar to them-
selves ; and they again convey to their kindred
spirits things appropriate to them ; and they have
their abiding from Goodness ; and thence comes to
them stability and consistence and protection, and
sanctuary of good things; and whilst aspiring to It,
they have both being and good being ; and being
conformed to It, as is attainable, they are both
patterns of good, and impart to those after them,
as the Divine Law directs, the gifts which have passed
through to themselves from the Good.

Section II.
Thence come to them the supermundane orders,
the unions amongst themselves, the mutual penetra-
tions, the unconfused distinctions, the powers ele-
vating the inferior to the superior, the providences

D

34 Dionysius the Areopagite,

of the more exalted for those below them ; the guard-
ings of things pertaining to each power; and un-
broken convolutions around themselves ; the identities
and sublimities around the aspiration after the Good ;
and whatever is said in our Treatise concerning the
angelic properties and orders. Further also, whatever
things belong to the heavenly Hierarchy, the purifi-
cations befitting angels, the supermundane illumina-
tions, and the tilings perfecting the whole angelic
perfection, are from the all-creative and fontal Good-
ness ; from which was given to them the form of
Goodness, and the revealing in themselves the hidden
Goodness, and that angels are, as it were, heralds
of the Divine silence, and project, as it were,
luminous lights revealing Him Who is in secret.
Further, after these — the sacred and holy minds — the
souls, and whatever is good in souls is by reason of
the super-good Goodness — the fact that they are intel-
lectual—that they have essential life — indestructible —
the very being itself — and that they are able, whilst
elevated themselves to the angelic lives, to be con-
ducted by them as good guides to the good Origin
of all good things, and to become partakers of the
illuminations, thence bubbling forth, according to the
capacity of each, and to participate in the goodlike
gift, as they are able, and whatever else we have
enumerated in our Treatise concerning the soul.
But also, if one may be permitted to speak of the
irrational souls, or living creatures, such as cleave
the air, and such as walk on earth, and such as
creep along earth, and those whose life is in waters,

on Divine Names. 35

or amphibious, and such as live concealed under
earth, and burrow within it, and in one word, such as
have the sensible soul or life, even all these have their
soul and life, by reason of the Good. Moreover, all
plants have their growing and moving life from the
Good ; and even soulless and lifeless substance is by
reason of the Good, and by reason of It, has in-
herited its substantial condition.

Section III.
But, if the Good is above all things being, as
indeed it is, and formulates the formless, even in
Itself alone, both the non-essential is a pre-eminence
of essence, and the non-living is a superior life, and
the mindless a superior wisdom, and whatever is in
the Good is of a superlative formation of the form-
less, and if one may venture to say so, even the non-
existent itself aspires to the Good above all things
existing, and struggles somehow to be even itself
in the Good, — the really Superessential — to the ex-
clusion of all things.

Section IV.
But what slipped from our view in the midst of
our discourse, the Good is Cause of the celestial
movements in their commencements and termin-
ations, of their not increasing, not diminishing, and
completely changeless, course b , and of the noiseless
movements, if one may so speak, of the vast celestial
transit, and of the astral orders, and the beauties and

b cupulas.

36 Dionysius the Areopagite,

lights, and stabilities, and the progressive swift
motion of certain stars, and of the periodical return
of the two luminaries, which the Oracles call "great,"
from the same to the same quarter, after which our
days and nights being marked, and months and
years being measured, mark and number and arrange
and comprehend the circular movements of time
and things temporal. But, what would any one say
of the very ray of the sun ? For the light is from the
Good, and an image of the Goodness, wherefore also
the Good is celebrated under the name of Light ; as
in a portrait the original is manifested. For, as the
goodness of the Deity, beyond all, permeates from
the highest and most honoured substances even
to the lowest, and yet is above all, neither the fore-
most outstripping its superiority, nor the things
below eluding its grasp, but it both enlightens all
that are capable, and forms and enlivens, and grasps,
and perfects, and is measure of things existing, and
age, and number, and order, and grasp, and cause,
and end ; so, too, the brilliant likeness of the Divine
Goodness, this our great sun, wholly bright and
ever luminous, as a most distant echo of the Good,
both enlightens whatever is capable of participating
in it, and possesses the light in the highest degree
of purity, unfolding to the visible universe, above
and beneath, the splendours of its own rays, and
if anything does not participate in them, this is not
owing to the inertness or deficiency of its distri-
bution of light, but is owing to the inaptitude for
light-reception of the things which do not unfold

on Divine Names. 37

themselves for the participation of light. No doubt
the ray passing over many things in such condition,
enlightens the things after them, and there is no
visible thing which it does not reach, with the sur-
passing greatness of its own splendour. Further
also, it contributes to the generation of sensible
bodies, and moves them to life, and nourishes, and
increases, and perfects, and purifies and renews ;
and the light is both measure and number of hours,
days, and all our time. For it is the light itself,
even though it was then without form, which the
divine Moses declared to have fixed that first Triad c
of our days. And, just as Goodness turns all things
to Itself, and is chief collector of things scattered,
as One-springing and One-making Deity, and all
things aspire to It, as Source and Bond and End,
and it is the Good, as the Oracles say, from Which
all things subsisted, and are being brought into being
by an all-perfect Cause ; and in Which all things
consisted, as guarded and governed in an all-con-
trolling route ; and to Which all things are turned,
as to their own proper end ; and to Which all aspire
— the intellectual and rational indeed, through know-
ledge, and the sensible through the senses, and
those bereft of sensible perception by the innate
movement of the aspiration after life, and those with-
out life, and merely being, by their aptitude for mere
substantial participation ; after the same method of
its illustrious original, the light also collects and
turns to itself all things existing — things with sight
c See Dulac, Theology anticipates Science.

38 Dionysius the Areopagite,

—things with motion— things enlightened— things
heated— things wholly held together by its brilliant
splendours— whence also, Helios, because it makes
all things altogether (doWij), and collects things
scattered. And all creatures, endowed with sensible
perceptions, aspire to it, as aspiring either to see,
or to be moved and enlightened, and heated, and
to be wholly held together by the light. By no
means do I affirm, after the statement of antiquity,
that as being God and Creator of the universe, the
sun, by itself, governs the luminous world, but
that the invisible things of God are clearly seen
from the foundation of the world, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Deity.

Section V.
But we have spoken of these things in our Sym-
bolical Theology. Let us now then celebrate the
spiritual Name of Light, under Which we contem-
plate the Good, and declare that He, the Good,
is called spiritual d Light, on the ground that He fills
every supercelestial mind with spiritual light, and
expels all ignorance and error from all souls in
which they may be, and imparts to them all sacred
light, and cleanses their mental vision from the
mist which envelops them, from ignorance, and stirs
up and unfolds those enclosed by the great weight of
darkness, and imparts, at first, a measured radiance ;
then, whilst they taste, as it were, the light, and

d The Greek word is vorirbv, which in connection with <pus
is rendered here " spiritual light."

071 Divine Names. 39

desire it more, more fully gives Itself, and more
abundantly enlightens them, because " they have
loved much," and ever elevates them to things in
advance, as befits the analogy of each for aspiration.

Section VI.
The Good then above every light is called spiri-
tual Light, as fontal ray, and stream of light welling
over, shining upon every mind, above, around e , and
in the world, from its fulness, and renewing their
whole mental powers, and embracing them all by
its over-shadowing; and being above all by its
exaltation ; and in one word, by embracing and
having previously and pre-eminently the whole
sovereignty of the light-dispensing faculty, as being
source of light and above all light, and by compre-
hending in itself all things intellectual, and all things
rational, and making them one altogether. For
as ignorance puts asunder those who have gone
astray, so the presence of the spiritual light is col-
lective and unifying of those being enlightened,
]x)th perfecting and further turning them towards
the true Being, by turning them from the many
notions and collecting the various views, or, to
speak more correctly, fancies, into one true, pure
and uniform knowledge, and by filling them with
light, one and unifying.

Section VII.
This Good is celebrated by the sacred theologians,
both as beautiful and as Beauty, and as Love, and as

e See Book of Hierotheus, c. 2.

40 Dionysius the Areopagite,

Beloved ; and all the other Divine Names which
beseem the beautifying and highly-favoured come-
liness. But the beautiful and Beauty are not to be
divided, as regards the Cause which has embraced
the whole in one. For, with regard to all created
things, by dividing them into participations and
participants, we call beautiful that which participates
in Beauty; but beauty, the participation of the
beautifying Cause of all the beautiful things. But,
the superessential Beautiful is called Beauty, on
account of the beauty communicated from Itself to
all beautiful things, in a manner appropriate to each,
and as Cause of the good harmony and brightness of
all things which flashes like light to all the beautifying
distributions of its fontal ray, and as calling (koKovv)
all things to Itself (whence also it is called Beauty)
(kqXXos), and as collecting all in all to Itself. (And
it is called) Beautiful, as (being) at once beautiful and
super-beautiful, and always being under the same
conditions and in the same manner beautiful, and
neither coming into being nor perishing, neither
waxing nor waning ; neither in this beautiful, nor in
that ugly, nor at one time beautiful, and at another
not; nor in relation to one thing beautiful, and in
relation to another ugly, nor here, and not there, as
being beautiful to some, and not beautiful to others ;
but as Itself, in Itself, with Itself, uniform, always
being beautiful, and as having beforehand in Itself
pre-eminently the fontal beauty of everything beau-
tiful. For, by the simplex and supernatural nature of
all beautiful things, all beauty, and everything beau-

on Divine Names. 4 1

tiful, pre-existed uniquely as to Cause. From this
Beautiful (comes) being to all existing things, — that
each is beautiful in its own proper order; and by
reason of the Beautiful are the adaptations of all things,
and friendships, and inter-communions, and by the
Beautiful all things are made one, and the Beautiful
is origin of all things, as a creating Cause, both by
moving the whole and holding it together by the love
of its own peculiar Beauty ; and end of all things,
and beloved, as final Cause (for all things exist for
the sake of the Beautiful) and exemplary (Cause),
because all things are determined according to It.
Wherefore, also, the Beautiful is identical with the
Good, because all things aspire to the Beautiful and
Good, on every account, and there is no existing
thing which does not participate in the Beautiful and
the Good. Yea, reason will dare to say even this,
that even the non-existing participates in the Beautiful
and Good. For then even it is beautiful and good,
when in God it is celebrated superessentially to the
exclusion of all. This, the one Good and Beautiful,
is uniquely Cause of all the many things beautiful
and good. From this are all the substantial begin-
nings of things existing, the unions, the distinctions,
the identities, the diversities, the similarities, the
dissimilarities, the communions of the contraries, the
commingling of things unified, the providences of
the superior, the mutual cohesions of those of the
same rank; the attentions of the more needy, the
protecting and immoveable abidings and stabilities of
their whole selves and, on the other hand, the com-

42 Dionysius the Areopagite,

munions of all things among all, in a manner peculiar
to each, and adaptations and unmingled friendships
and harmonies of the whole, the bl endings in the
whole, and the undissolved connections of existing
things, the never-failing successions of the generations,
all rests and movements, of the minds, of the souls,
of the bodies. For, that which is established above
every rest, and every movement, and moves each
thing in the law of its own being to its proper move-
ment, is a rest and movement to all.

Section VIII.
Now, the divine minds f are said to be moved cir-
cularly indeed, by being united to the illuminations
of the Beautiful and Good, without beginning and
without end; but in a direct line, whenever they
advance to the succour of a subordinate, by accom-
plishing all things directly; but spirally, because
even in providing for the more indigent, they remain
fixedly, in identity, around the good and beautiful
Cause of their identity, ceaselessly dancing around.

Section IX.
Further, there is a movement of soul, circular
indeed, — the entrance into itself from things without,
and the unified convolution of its intellectual powers,
bequeathing to it inerrancy, as it were, in a sort
of circle, and turning and collecting itself, from the
many things without, first to itself, then, as having
become single, uniting with the uniquely unified
powers, and thus conducting to the Beautiful and
f Angels.

on Divine Names. 43

Good, which is above all things being, and One and
the Same, and without beginning and without end.
But a soul is moved spirally, in so far as it is
illuminated, as to the divine kinds of knowledge, in
a manner proper to itself, not intuitively and at once,
but logically and discursively; and, as it were, by
mingled and relative operations; but in a straight
line, when, not entering into itself, and being moved
by unique intuition (for this, as I said, is the
circular), but advancing to things around itself, and
from things without, it is, as it were, conducted
from certain symbols, varied and multiplied, to the
simple and unified contemplations.

Section X.
Of these three motions then in everything per-
ceptible here below, and much more of the abidings
and repose and fixity of each, the Beautiful and
Good, which is above all repose and movement,
is Cause and Bond and End ; by reason of which,
and from which, and in which, and towards which,
and for sake of which, is every repose and move-
ment. For, both from It and through It is both
Essence and every life, and both of mind and soul
and every nature, the minutiae, the equalities, the
magnitudes, all the standards and the analogies of
beings, and harmonies and compositions; the en-
tireties, the parts, every one thing, and multitude,
the connections of parts, the unions of every multi-
tude, the perfections of the entireties, the quality,
the weight, the size, the infinitude, the compounds,

44 Dionysius the Areopagite,

the distinctions, every infinitude, every term, all the
bounds, the orders, the pre-eminences, the elements,
the forms, every essence, every power, every energy,
every condition, every sensible perception, every
reason, every conception, every contact, every
science, every union, and in one word, all things
existing are from the Beautiful and Good, and in the
Beautiful and Good, and turn themselves to the
Beautiful and Good.

Moreover, all things whatever, which are and
come to being, are and come to being by reason
of the Beautiful and Good; and to It all things
look, and by It are moved and held together, and
for the sake of It, and by reason of It, and in It, is
every source exemplary, final, creative, formative,
elemental, and in one word, every beginning, every
bond, every term, or to speak summarily, all things
existing are from the Beautiful and Good ; and all
things non-existing are superessentially in the Beauti-
ful and Good ; and it is of all, beginning and term,
above beginning and above term, because from It,
and through It, and in It, and to It, are all things,
as says the Sacred Word.

By all things, then, the Beautiful and Good is
desired and beloved and cherished ; and, by reason
of It, and for the sake of It, the less love the greater
suppliantly ; and those of the same rank, their fellows
brotherly ; and the greater, the less considerately ;
and these severally love the things of themselves
continuously; and all things by aspiring to the
Beautiful and Good, do and wish all things whatever

on Divine Names. 45

they do and wish. Further, it may be boldly said
with truth, that even the very Author of all things,
by reason of overflowing Goodness, loves all, makes
all, perfects all, sustains all, attracts all ; and even
the Divine Love is Good of Good, by reason of the
Good. For Love itself, the benefactor of things
that be, pre-existing overflowingly in the Good, did
not permit itself to remain unproductive in itself,
but moved itself to creation s, as befits the overflow
which is generative of all.

Section XL
And let no one fancy that we honour the Name
of Love beyond the Oracles, for it is, in my opinion,
irrational and stupid not to cling to the force of the
meaning, but to the mere words ; and this is not the
characteristic of those who have wished to compre-
hend things Divine, but of those who receive empty
sounds and keep the same just at the ears from
passing through from outside, and are not willing to
know what such a word signifies, and in what way
one ought to distinctly represent it, through other
words of the same force and more explanatory, but
who specially affect sounds and signs without mean-
ing, and syllables, and words unknown, which do
not pass through to the mental part of their soul,
but buzz without, around their lips and ears, as
though it were not permitted to signify the number
four, by twice two, or straight lines by direct lines,
or motherland by fatherland, or any other, which
signify the self-same thing, by many parts of speech.
* Creation through Goodness not necessity.

46 Dionysius the Areopagite,

We ought to know, according to the correct
account, that we use sounds, and syllables, and
phrases, and descriptions, and words, on account
of the sensible perceptions ; since when our soul is
moved by the intellectual energies to the things
contemplated, the sensible perceptions by aid of
sensible objects are superfluous ; just as also the
intellectual powers, when the soul, having become
godlike, throws itself, through a union beyond know-
ledge, against the rays of the unapproachable light,
by sightless efforts. But, when the mind strives to
be moved upwards, through objects of sense, to
contemplative conceptions, the clearer interpreta-
tions are altogether preferable to the sensible per-
ceptions, and the more definite descriptions are
things more distinct than things seen ; since when
objects near are not made clear to the sensible per-
ceptions, neither will these perceptions be well able
to present the things perceived to the mind. But
that we -may not seem, in speaking thus, to be
pushing aside the Divine Oracles, let those who libel
the Name of Love (*Epu>To s ) hear them. "Be in
love with It," they say, "and It will keep thee —
Rejoice over It, and It will exalt thee — Honour
It, in order that It may encompass thee," — and what-
ever else is sung respecting Love, in the Word
of God.

Section XII.
And yet it seemed to some of our sacred ex-
pounders that the Name of Love is more Divine
than that of loving-kindness (dydTnjs). But even the

on Divine Names. 47

Divine Ignatius h writes, " my own Love (Zpa>s) is
crucified ;" and in the introductions to the Oracles
you will find a certain One saying of the Divine
Wisdom, " 1 became enamoured of her Beauty."
So that we, certainly, need not be afraid of this
Name of Love, nor let any alarming statement about
it terrify us. For the theologians seem to me to
treat as equivalent the name of Loving-kindness,
and that of Love ; and on this ground, to attribute,
by preference, the veritable Love, to things Divine,
because of the misplaced prejudice of such men as
these. For, since the veritable Love is sung of in
a sense befitting God, not by us only, but also by
the Oracles themselves, the multitude, not having
comprehended the Oneness of the Divine Name
of Love, fell away, as might be expected of them,
to the divided and corporeal and sundered, seeing
it is not a real love, but a shadow, or rather a falling
from the veritable Love. For the Oneness of the
Divine and one Love is incomprehensible to the
multitude, wherefore also, as seeming a very hard
name to the multitude, it is assigned to the Divine
Wisdom, for the purpose of leading back and re-
storing them to the knowledge of the veritable Love ;
and for their liberation from the difficulty respecting
it. And again, as regards ourselves, where it hap-
pened often that men of an earthly character ima-
gined something out of place, (there is used) what
appears more euphonius \ A certain one says, " Thy

h See note, p. 128.

1 tvQa Ka\ 6.tottov ri iroWdms l\v olrjdTjvai ruvs x a t JLai £fa ovs
Kara rb Sokovv sixpTj^erepov.

48 Dionysius the Areopagite,

affection fell upon me, as the affection of the
women." For those who have rightly listened to
things Divine, the name of Loving-kindness and of
Love is placed by the holy theologians in the same
category throughout the Divine revelations, and this
is of a power unifying, and binding together, and
mingling pre-eminently in the Beautiful and Good ;
pre-existing by reason of the beautiful and good, and
imparted from the beautiful and good, by reason
of the Beautiful and Good ; and sustaining things
of the same rank, within their mutual coherence,
but moving the first to forethought for the inferior,
and attaching the inferior to the superior by respect.

Section XIII.
But Divine Love is extatic, not permitting (any)
to be lovers of themselves, but of those beloved.
They shew this too, the superior by becoming mind-
ful of the inferior ; and the equals by their mutual
coherence ; and the inferior, by a more divine re-
spect towards things superior. Wherefore also, Paul
the Great, when possessed by the Divine Love, and
participating in its extatic power, says with inspired
lips, " I live no longer, but Christ lives in me." As
a true lover, and beside himself, as he says, to Al-
mighty God, and not living the life of himself, but
the life of the Beloved, as a life excessively esteemed.
One might make bold to say even this, on behalf
of truth, that the very Author of all things, by the
beautiful and good love of everything, through an
overflow of His loving goodness, becomes out of
Himself, by His providences for all existing things,

on Divine Names. 49

and is, as it were, cozened by goodness and affection
and love, and is led down from the Eminence above
all, and surpassing all, to being in all, as befits an
extatic superessential power centred in Himself.
Wherefore, those skilled in Divine things call Him
even Jealous, as (being) that vast good Love towards
all beings, and as rousing His loving inclination to
jealousy, — and as proclaiming Himself Jealous — to
Whom the things desired are objects of jealousy,
and as though the objects of His providential care
were objects of jealousy for Him. And, in short, the
lovable is of the Beautiful and Good, and Love pre-
existed both in the Beautiful and Good, and on
account of the Beautiful and Good, is and takes
Being.

Section XIV.
But what do the theologians mean when at one
time they call Him Love, and Loving-kindness, and
at another, Loved and Esteemed? For, of the one,
He is Author and, as it were, Producer and Father ;
but the other, He Himself is; and by one He is
moved, but by the other He moves ; or (when they
say), that He Himself is Procurer and Mover of Him-
self and by Himself. In this sense, they call Him
esteemed and loved, as Beautiful and Good : but
again Love and Loving-kindness, as being at once
moving and conducting Power to Himself; — the
alone — self Beautiful and Good, by reason of Itself,
and, being, as it were, a manifestation of Itself
through Itself, and a good Progression of the sur-

E

50 Dionysius the Areopagite,

passing union, and a loving Movement, simplex, self-
moved, self-operating, pre-existing in the Good, and
from the Good bubbling forth to things existing,
and again returning to the Good, in which also
the Divine Love indicates distinctly Its own un-
ending and unbeginning, as it were a sort of ever-
lasting circle whirling round in unerring combination,
by reason of the Good, from the Good, and in the
Good, and to the Good, and ever advancing and
remaining and returning in the same and throughout
the same. And these things our illustrious initiator
divinely set forth throughout His Hymns of Love,
of which we may appropriately make mention, and,
as it were, place as a certain sacred chapter to our
treatise concerning Love.

Section XV.
Extract from the "Hymns of Love? by the most holy

Hierotheus : —

Love, whether we speak of Divine, or Angelic,
or intelligent, or psychical, or physical, let us regard
as a certain unifying and combining power, moving
the superior to forethought for the inferior, and
the equals to a mutual fellowship, and lastly, the
inferior to respect towards the higher and superior.

Section XVI.
Of the same, from the same Erotic Hymns.
Since we have arranged the many loves from
the one, by telling, in due order, what are the

on Divine Names. 5 r

kinds of knowledge and powers of the mundane
and super-mundane loves; over which, according
to the defined purpose of the discourse, the orders
and ranks of the mental and intelligible loves pre-
side ; next after k which are placed the self-existent
intelligible and divine, over the really beautiful
loves there which have been appropriately celebrated
by us ; now, on the other hand, by restoring all
back to the One and enfolded Love, and Father
of them all, let us collect and gather them together
from the many, by contracting It into two Powers
entirely lovable, over which rules and precedes
altogether the Cause, resistless from Its universal
Love beyond all, and to which is elevated, according
to the nature of each severally, the whole love from
all existing things.

Section XVII.
Of the same, from the same Hym?is of Love.
Come then, whilst collecting these again into one,
let us say, that it is a certain simplex power, which
of itself moves to a sort of unifying combination
from the Good, to the lowest of things existing,
and from that again in due order, circling round
again, through all to the Good from Itself, and
through Itself and by Itself, and rolling back to Itself
always in the same way.

Section XVIII.
And yet, any one might say, "if the Beautiful
and Good is beloved and desired, and esteemed
k i.e. in ascending order.

5 2 Diony sius the Areopagite,

by all (for even that which is non-existing desires It,
as we have said, and struggles how to be in It ; and
Itself is the form-giving, even of things without form,
and by It alone, even the non-existing is said to be,
and is superessentially)— " How is it that the host
of demons do not desire the Beautiful and Good,
but, through their earthly proclivities, having fallen
away from the angelic identity, as regards the
desire of the Good, have become cause of all evils
both to themselves and to all the others who are
said to be corrupted? and why, in short, when
the tribes of demons have been brought into being
from the Good, are they not like the Good? or
how, after being a good production from the Good,
were they changed? and what is that which de-
praved them, and in short, what is evil ? and from
what source did it spring? and in which of things
existing is it? and how did He, Who is Good, will
to bring it into being? and how, when He willed it,
was He able? And if evil is from another cause,
what other cause is there for things existing, beside
the Good? Further, how, when there is a Providence,
is there evil, either coming into existence at all,
or not destroyed? And how does any existing thing
desire it, in comparison with the Good ?

Section XIX. l
Such a statement as this might be alleged by
way of objection. We, however, on our part, will

1 Plato, Theaet.

on Divine Names. 53

pray the objector to look to the truth of the facts,
and will make bold to say this first. The Evil is
not from the Good, and if it is from the Good,
it is not the Evil. For, it is not the nature of fire
to make cold, nor of good to bring into being
things not good ; and if all things that be are from
the Good (for to produce and to preserve is natural
to the Good, but to destroy and to dissolve, to the
Evil), there is no existing thing from the Evil, nor will
the Evil itself be, if it should be evil even to itself.
And, if it be not so, the Evil is not altogether evil,
but has some portion of the Good, in consequence
of which it wholly is. Now, if the things existing
desire the Beautiful and Good, and whatever they do,
they do for the sake of that which seems good,
and every purpose of things existing has the Good
for its beginning and end (for nothing looking to
the Evil qua evil, does what it does), how shall
the Evil be in things existing; or, wholly being,
how has it been seduced from such a good yearning ?
Also if all the things existing are from the Good,
and the Good is above all things existing, then there
is existing in the Good even the non-existing ; but
the Evil is not existing ; and, if this be not the case,
it is not altogether evil, nor non-existing, for the
absolutely non-existing will be nothing, unless it
should be spoken of as in the Good superessentially.
The Good, then, will be fixed far above both the
absolutely existing and the non-existing; but the
Evil is neither in things existing, nor in things non-
existing, but, being further distant from the Good than

54 Dionysius the Areopagite,

the non-existing itself, it is alien and more unsub-
stantial. Where then is the Evil? some one may
perchance say. For if the Evil is not,— virtue and
vice are the same, both universally and particularly.
Or, not even that which opposes itself to virtue
will be evil, and yet sobriety and license, and right-
eousness and unrighteousness, are contraries. And
I, by no means, speak in reference to the just and
unjust man, and the temperate and intemperate man ;
but also, long before the difference between the just
man and his opposite is made manifest externally,
in the very soul itself the vices stand altogether
apart from the virtues, and the passions rebel against
the reason ; and from this we must grant some evil
contrary to the Good. For the Good is not contrary
to Itself, but as the product from one Source and
one Cause, It rejoices in fellowship and unity and
friendship. Nor yet is the lesser good opposed to
the greater, for neither is the less heat or cold
opposed to the greater. The Evil m then is in things
existing, and is existing, and is opposed, and is
in opposition to, the Good; and if it is the de-
struction of things existing, this does not expel
the Evil from existence ; but it will be, both itself
existing, and generator of things existing. Does
not frequently the destruction of one become birth
of another? and the Evil will be contributing to
the completion of the whole, and supplying through
itself non-imperfection to the whole.

■ Theaet., 176a.

on Divine Names. 55

Section XX.
Now to all this true reason will answer, that the
Evil qua evil makes no single essence or birth, but
only, as far as it can, pollutes and destroys the sub-
sistence of things existing. But, if any one says,
that it is productive of being, and that by destruc-
tion of one it gives birth to another, we must truly
answer, that not qua destruction it gives birth, but
qua destruction and evil, it destroys and pollutes
only, but it becomes birth and essence, by reason
of the Good ; and the Evil will be destruction in-
deed, by reason of itself; but producer of birth by
reason of the Good ; and qua evil, it is neither ex-
isting, nor productive of things existing; but, by
reason of the Good, it is both existing and good-ex-
isting, and productive of things good. Yea, rather
(for neither will the same by itself be both good and
evil, nor the self-same power be of itself destruction and
birth— neither as self-acting power, nor as self-acting
destruction), the absolutely Evil is neither existing
nor good, nor generative, nor productive of things
being and good ; but the Good in whatever things
it may be perfectly engendered, makes them perfect
and pure, and thoroughly good, — but the things
which partake of it in a less degree are both imper-
fectly good, and impure, by reason of the lack of the
Good. And (thus) the Evil altogether, is not, nor is
good, nor good producing ; but that which ap-
proaches more or less near the Good will be pro-
portionately good ; since the All-perfect Goodness,
in passing through all, not only passes to the All-

5 6 Dionysins the Areopagite,

good beings around Itself, but extends Itself to the
most remote, by being present to some thoroughly,
to others subordinately, but to the rest, in the most
remote degree, as each existing thing is able to par-
ticipate in It. And some things, indeed, participate
in the Good entirely, whilst others are deprived of
It, in a more or less degree, but others possess a
more obscure participation in the Good ; and to the
rest, the Good is present as a most distant echo.
For if the Good were not present according to the
capacity of each, the most Divine and honoured
would occupy the rank of the lowest. And how
were it possible that all should participate in the
Good uniformly, when not all are in the same way
adapted to its whole participation ?

Now, this is the exceeding greatness of the power
of the Good, that It empowers, both things de-
prived, and the deprivation of Itself, with a view to
the entire participation of itself. And, if one must
make bold to speak the truth, even the things fight-
ing against It, both are, and are able to fight, by Its
power. Yea rather, in order that I may speak sum-
marily, all things which are, in so far as they are,
both are good, and from the Good j but, in so far as
they are deprived of the Good, are neither good, nor
do they exist. For, even with regard to the other
conditions, such as heat or cold, there are things
which have been heated, and when the heat has
departed from them, many of them are deprived
both of life and intelligence (now Almighty God is
outside essence, and is, superessentially), and, in

on Divine Names. 57

one word, with regard to the rest, even when
the condition has departed, or has not become
completely developed, things exist, and are able
to subsist; but that which is every way deprived
of the Good, in no way or manner ever was, or
is, or will be, nor is able to be. For example,
the licentious man, even if he have been deprived
of the Good, as regards his irrational lust, in this
respect he neither is, nor desires realities, but never-
theless he participates in the Good, in his very
obscure echo of union and friendship. And, even
Anger participates in the Good, by the very move-
ment and desire to direct and turn the seeming
evils to the seeming good. And the very man, who
desires the very worst life, as wholly desirous of life
and that which seems best to him, by the very fact
of desiring, and desiring life, and looking to a best
life, participates in the Good. And, if you should
entirely take away the Good, there will be neither
essence, nor life, nor yearning, nor movement, nor
anything else. So that the fact, that birth is born
from destruction, is not a power of evil, but a pre-
sence of a lesser good, even as disease is a defect of
order, not total — for, if this should be, not even the
disease itself will continue to exist, but the disease
remains and is, by having the lowest possible order
of essence, and in this continues to exist as a para-
site. For that which is altogether deprived of the
Good, is neither existing, nor in things existing;
but the compound, by reason of the Good in things
existing, and in consequence of this in things exist-

58 Dionysius the Areopagite,

ing, is also existing in so far as it participates in the
Good. Yea rather, all things existing will so far be,
more or less, as they participate in the Good ; for,
even as respects the self-existing Being, that which
in no ways is at all, will not be at all ; but that
which partially is, but partially is not, in so far as it
has fallen from the ever Being, is not ; but so far
as it has participated in the Being, so far it is, and
its whole being, and its non-being, is sustained
and preserved. And the Evil, — that which has
altogether fallen from the Good — will be good,
neither in the more nor in the less; but the
partially good, and partially not good, fight no
doubt against a certain good, but not against
the whole Good, and, even it is sustained by
the participation of the Good, and the Good
gives essence even to the privation of Itself, wholly
by the participation of Itself; for, when the Good
has entirely departed, there will be neither anything
altogether good, nor compound, nor absolute evil.
For, if the Evil is an imperfect good, (then) by the en-
tire absence of the Good, both the imperfect and the
perfect Good will be absent; and then only will be,
and be seen, the Evil, when on the one hand, it is
an evil to those things to which it was opposed, and,
on the other, is expelled from other things on ac-
count of their goodness. For, it is impossible that
the same things, under the same conditions in every
respect, should fight against each other. The Evil
then is not an actual thing.

on Divine Names. 5 9

Section XXI.

But neither is the Evil in things existing. For,
if all things existing are from the Good, and the
Good is in all things existing, and embraces all,
either the Evil will not be in things existing, or it
will be in the Good ; and certainly it will not be in
the Good, for neither is cold in fire, nor to do
evil in Him, Who turns even the evil to good. But,
if it shall be, how will the Evil be in the Good ?
If forsooth, from Itself, it is absurd and impossible.
For it is not possible, as the infallibility of the
Oracles affirms, that a " good tree should bring forth
evil fruits," nor certainly, vice versa. But, if not
from Itself, it is evident that it will be from another
source and cause. For, either the Evil will be from
the Good, or the Good from the Evil ; or, if this
be not possible, both the Good and the Evil will
be from another source and cause, for no dual is
source, but a Unit will be source of every dual.
Further, it is absurd that two entirely contraries
should proceed and be from one and the same, and
that the self-same source should be, not simplex and
unique, but divided and double, and contrary to
itself, and be changed ; and certainly it is not pos-
sible that there should be two contrary sources of
things existing, and that these should be contending
in each other, and in the whole. For, if this were
granted, even Almighty God will not be in repose,
nor free from disquietude, if there were indeed some-
thing bringing disturbance even to Him. Then,

60 Dionysius the Areopagite,

everything will be in disorder, and always fighting ;
and yet the Good distributes friendship to all ex-
isting things, and is celebrated by the holy theo-
logians, both as very Peace, and Giver of Peace.
Wherefore, things good are both friendly and har-
monious, every one, and products of one life, and
marshalled to one good ; and kind, and similar, and
affable to each other. So that the Evil is not in
God, and the Evil is not inspired by God. But
neither is the Evil from God, for, either He is not
good, or He does good, and produces good things ;
and, not once in a way, and some ; and at another
time not, and not all ; for this would argue transition
and change, even as regards the very Divinest thing
of all, the Cause. But, if in God, the Good is sus-
taining essence, God, when changing from the Good,
will be sometimes Being, and sometimes not Being.
But, if He has the Good by participation, He will
then have it from another ; and sometimes He will
have it, and sometimes not. The Evil, then, is not
from God, nor in God, neither absolutely nor oc-
casionally.

Section XXII.

But neither is the Evil in Angels ; for if the good-
like angel proclaims the goodness of God, being by
participation in a secondary degree that which the
Announced is in the first degree as Cause, the Angel
is a likeness of Almighty God — a manifestation of
the unmanifested light — a mirror untarnished — most
transparent — without flaw — pure— without spot —

on Divine Names. 6 1

receiving, if I may so speak, the full beauty of the
Good-stamped likeness of God — and without stain,
shedding forth undefiledly in itself, so far as is
possible, the goodness of the Silence, which dwells
in innermost shrines. The Evil, then, is not even
in Angels. But by punishing sinners are they evil ?
By this rule, then, the punishers of transgressors
are evil, and those of the priests who shut out
the profane from the Divine Mysteries. And yet,
the being punished is not an evil, but the becoming
worthy of punishment; nor the being deservedly
expelled from Holy things, but the becoming ac-
cursed of God, and unholy and unfit for things un-
dented.

Section XXIII.
But, neither are the demons evil by nature ; for,
if they are evil by nature, neither are they from the
Good, nor amongst things existing; nor, in fact,
did they change from good, being by nature, and
always, evil. Then, are they evil to themselves
or to others? If to themselves, they also destroy
themselves; but if to others, how destroying, or
what destroying ?— Essence, or power, or energy?
If indeed Essence, in the first place, it is not con-
trary to nature; for they do not destroy things
indestructible by nature, but things receptive of
destruction. Then, neither is this an evil for every
one, and in every case ; but, not even any existing
thing is destroyed, in so far as it is essence and
nature, but by the defect of nature's order, the

62 Dionysius the Areopagite,

principle of harmony and proportion lacks the power
to remain as it was. But the lack of strength is not
complete, for the complete lack of power takes away
even the disease and the subject; and such a disease
will be even a destruction of itself; so that, such
a thing is not an evil, but a defective good, for that
which has no part of the Good will not be amongst
things which exist. And with regard to the destruc-
tion of power and energy the principle is the same.
Then, how are the demons, seeing they come
into being from God, evil? For the Good brings
forth and sustains good things. Yet they are called
evil, some one may say. But not as they are (for they
are from the Good, and obtained a good being), but,
as they are not, by not having had strength, as the
Oracles affirm, "to keep their first estate." For in
what, tell me, do we affirm that the demons become
evil, except in the ceasing in the habit and energy
for good things Divine ? Otherwise, if the demons
are evil by nature, they are always evil ; yet evil
is unstable. Therefore, if they are always in the
same condition, they are not evil ; for to be ever the
same is a characteristic of the Good. But, if they
are not always evil, they are not evil by nature, but
by wavering from the angelic good qualities. And
they are not altogether without part in the good,
in so far as they both are, and live and think, and
in one word — as there is a sort of movement of
aspiration in them. But they are said to be evil,
by reason of their weakness as regards their action
according to nature. The evil then, in them, is

on Divine Names. 63

a turning aside and a stepping out of things befitting
themselves, and a missing of aim, and imperfection
and impotence, and a weakness and departure, and
falling away from the power which preserves their
integrity in them. Otherwise, what is evil in demons ?
An irrational anger — a senseless desire — a headlong
fancy. — But these, even if they are in demons, are
not altogether, nor in every respect, nor in them-
selves alone, evils. For even with regard to other
living creatures, not the possession of these, but
the loss, is both destruction to the creature, and
an evil. But the possession saves, and makes to
be, the nature of the living creature which possesses
them. The tribe of demons then is not evil, so
far as it is according to nature, but so far as it is
not ; and the whole good which was given to them
was not changed, but themselves fell from the whole
good given. And the angelic gifts which were
given to them, we by no means affirm that they
were changed, but they exist, and are complete, and
all luminous, although the demons themselves do
not see, through having blunted their powers of
seeing good. So far as they are, they are both from
the Good, and are good, and aspire to the Beautiful
and the Good, by aspiring to the realities, Being,
and Life, and Thought ; and by the privation and
departure and declension from the good things be-
fitting them, they are called evil, and are evil as
regards what they are not : and by aspiring to the
non-existent, they aspire to the Evil.

6 4 Dionysius the Areopagite,

Section XXIV.
But does some one say that souls are evil? If
it be that they meet with evil things providentially,
and with a view to their preservation, this is not
an evil, but a good, and from the Good, Who makes
even the evil good. But, if we say that souls become
evil, in what respect do they become evil, except
in the failure of their good habits and energies ; and,
by reason of their own lack of strength, missing their
aim and tripping? For we also say, that the air
around us becomes dark by failure and absence of
light, and yet the light itself is always light, that
which enlightens even the darkness. The Evil,
then, is neither in demons nor in us, as an existent
evil,' but as a failure and dearth of the perfection
of our own proper goods.

Section XXV.
But neither is the Evil in irrational creatures,
for if you should take away anger and lust, and the
other things which we speak of, and which are not
absolutely evil in their own nature, the lion having
lost his boldness and fierceness will not be a lion j
and the dog, when he has become gentle to every
body, will not be a dog, since to keep guard is
a dog's duty, and to admit those of the household,
but to drive away the stranger. So the fact that
nature is not destroyed is not an evil, but a destruc-
tion of nature, weakness, and failure of the natural
habitudes and energies and powers. And, if all

on Divine Names. 65

things through generation in time have their per-
fection, the imperfect is not altogether contrary to
universal nature.

Section XXVI.
But neither is the Evil in nature throughout, for if
all the methods of nature are from universal nature,
there is nothing contrary to it. But in each indi-
vidual (nature) one thing will be according to nature,
and another not according to nature. For one thing
is contrary to nature in one, and another in another 11 ,
and that which is according to nature to one, is to
the other, contrary to nature. But malady of nature,
that which is the contrary to nature, is the deprivation
of things of nature. So that there is not an evil
nature; but this is evil to nature, the inability to
accomplish the things of one's proper nature.

Section XXVII.
But, neither is the Evil in bodies. For deformity
and disease are a defect of form, and a deprivation of
order. And this is not altogether an evil, but a less
good ; for if a dissolution of beauty and form and
order become complete, the body itself will be gone.
But that the body is not cause of baseness to the soul
is evident, from the fact that baseness continues to
coexist even without a body, as in demons. For this
is evil to minds and souls and bodies, (viz.) the
weakness and declension from the habitude of their
own proper goods.

n AAAp yap &\\o irapa, (pvaiv.
F

66 Dionysius the Areopagite,

Section XXVIII.
But neither (a thing which they say over and over
again) is the evil in matter, so far as it is matter
For even it participates in ornament and beauty and
form. But if matter, being without these, by itself
is without quality and without form, how does matter
produce anything— matter, which, by itself, is impas-
sive? Besides how is matter an evil? for, if it does
not exist in any way whatever, it is neither good nor
evil ; but if it is any how existing, and all things
existing are from the Good, even it would be from
the Good ; and either the Good is productive of the
Evil, or the Evil, as being from the Good, is good 5 or
the Evil is capable of producing the Good; or even
the Good, as from the Evil, is evil ; or further, there
are two first principles, and these suspended from
another one head. And, if they say that matter is
necessary, for a completion of the whole Cosmos,
how is matter an evil? For the Evil is one thing, and
the necessary ° is another. But, how does He, Who
is Good, bring anything to birth from the Evil? or,
how is that, which needs the Good, evil? For the
Evil shuns the nature of the Good. And how does
matter, being evil, generate and nourish nature?
For the Evil, qud evil, neither generates, nor nour-
ishes, nor solely produces, nor preserves anything.

But, if they should say, that it does not make base-
ness in souls, but that they are dragged to it, how
will this be true? for many of them look towards the

Jahn, p. 66.

on Divine Names. 67

good ; and yet how did this take place, when matter
was dragging them entirely to the Evil ? So that the
Evil in souls is not from matter, but from a disordered
and discordant movement. But, if they say this
further, that they invariably follow matter, and un-
stable matter is necessary for those who are unable to
stand firmly by themselves, how is the Evil necessary,
or the necessary an evil ?

Section XXIX.
But neither is it this which we affirm — the " priva-
tion fights against the Good by its own power p " ; for
the complete privation is altogether powerless, and
the partial has the power, not in respect of privation,
but in so far as it is not a complete privation. For,
whilst privation of good is partial, it is not, as yet, an
evil, and when it has become an accomplished fact,
the nature of the evil has departed also.

Section XXX.
But, to speak briefly, the Good is from the one
and the whole Cause, but the Evil is from many and
partial defects. Almighty God knows the Evil qua
good; and, with Him, the causes of the evils are
powers producing good i. But, if the Evil is eternal,
and creates, and has power, and is, and does,
whence do these come to it? Is it either from
the Good, or by the Good from the Evil, or by
both from another cause? Everything that is ac-
cording to nature comes into being from a de-

» Jahn, p. 67. 1 Out of evil forth producing good.

68 Dionysius the Areopagite,

fined cause. And if the Evil is without cause,
and undefined, it is not according to nature. For
there is not in nature what is contrary to nature ;
nor is there any raison d'etre for want of art in art.
Is then the soul cause of things evil, as fire of
burning, and does it fill everything that it happens
to touch with baseness ? Or, is the nature of the soul
then good, but, by its energies, exists sometimes in
one condition, and sometimes in another ? If indeed
by nature, even its existence is an evil, and whence
then does it derive its existence ? Or, is it from the
good Cause creative of the whole universe ? But, if
from this, how is it essentially evil ? For good are all
things born of this. But if by energies, neither is this
invariable, and if not, whence are the virtues ? Since
it (the soul) comes into being without even seeming
good. It remains then that the Evil is a weakness
and a falling short of the Good.

Section XXXI.

The Cause of things good is One. If.the Evil is
contrary to the Good, the many causes of the Evil,
certainly those productive of things evil, are not
principles and powers, but want of power, and want
of strength, and a mixing of things dissimilar without
proportion. Neither are things evil unmoved, and
always in the same condition, but endless and un-
defined, and borne along in different things, and
those endless. The Good will be beginning and end
of all, even things evil, for, for the sake of the
Good, are all things, both those that are good, and

on Divine Na?nes. 69

those that are contrary. For we do even these as
desiring the Good (for no one does what he does
with a view to the Evil), wherefore the Evil has not
a subsistence, but a parasitical subsistence, coming
into being for the sake of the Good, and not of icself.

Section XXXII.
It is to be laid down that being belongs to the
Evil as an accident and by reason of something else,
and not from its own origin, and thus that that which
comes into being appears to be right, because it
comes into being for the sake of the Good, but that
in reality it is not right for the reason that we think
that which is not good to be good. The desired
is shewn to be one thing, and that which comes
to pass is another. The Evil, then, is beside the
path, and beside the mark, and beside nature, and
beside cause, and beside beginning, and beside end,
and beside limit, and beside intention, and beside
purpose. The Evil then is privation and failure,
and want of strength, and want of proportion, and
want of attainment, and want of purpose ; and with-
out beauty, and without life, and without mind, and
without reason, and without completeness, and with-
out stability, and without cause, and without limit,
and without production; and inactive, and without
result, and disordered, and dissimilar, and limitless,
and dark, and unessential, and being itself nothing
in any manner of way whatever. How, in short,
can evil do anything by its mixture with the Good ?
For that which is altogether without participation

7 o Dionysius the Areopagite,

in the Good, neither is anything, nor is capable of
anything. For, if the Good is both an actual thing
and an object of desire, and powerful and effective,
how will the contrary to the Good,— that which has
been deprived of essence, and intention, and power,
and energy,— be capable of anything ? Not all things
are evil to all, nor the same things evil in every
respect. To a demon, evil is to be contrary to
the good-like mind— to a soul, to be contrary to
reason— to a body, to be contrary to nature.

Section XXXIII.
How, in short, are there evils when there is a
Providence? The Evil, qud evil, is not, neither
as an actual thing nor as in things existing. And
no single thing is without a Providence. For neither
is the Evil an actual thing existing unmixed with
the Good. And, if no single thing is without par-
ticipation in the Good, but the lack of the Good
is an evil, and no existing thing is deprived ab-
solutely of the Good, the Divine Providence is
in all existing things, and no single thing is without
Providence. But Providence, as befits Its goodness,
uses even evils which happen for the benefit, either
individual or general, of themselves or others, and
suitably provides for each being. Wherefore we
will not admit the vain statement of the multitude,
who say that Providence ought to lead us to virtue,
even against our will. For to destroy nature is not
a function of Pro*tfence. Hence, as Providence
is conservative of therfeture of each, it provides for

on Divine Names. 7 1

the free, as free ; and for the whole, and individuals,
according to the wants of all and each, as far as the
nature of those provided for admits the providential
benefits of its universal and manifold Providence,
distributed proportionably to each.

Section XXXIV.
The Evil, then, is not an actual thing, nor is the
Evil in things existing. For the Evil, qua evil, is
nowhere, and the fact that evil comes into being
is not in consequence of power, but by reason of
weakness. And, as for the demons, what they are
is both from the Good, and good. But their evil
is from the declension from their own proper goods,
and a change — the weakness, as regards their iden-
tity and condition, of the angelic perfection befitting
them. And they aspire to the Good, in so far as they
aspire to be and to live and to think. And in so
far as they do not aspire to the Good, they aspire
to the non-existent ; and this is not aspiration, but
a missing of the true aspiration.

Section XXXV.
Now the Oracles call conscious transgressors those
who are thoroughly weak as regards the ever memor-
able knowledge or the practise of the Good, and
who, knowing the will, do not perform it, — those
who are hearers indeed, but are weak concerning
the faith, or the energy of the Good. And for some,
it is against their will to understand to do good,
by reason of the deviation or weakness of the will.

7 2 Dionysius the Areopagite,

And in short, the Evil (as we have often said) is
want of strength and want of power, and defect,
either of the knowledge, or the never to be forgotten
knowledge, or of the faith, or of the aspiration,
or of the energy of the Good. Yet, some one may
say, the weakness is not punishable, but on the
contrary is pardonable. Now, if the power were
not granted, the statement might hold good; but,
if power comes from the Good, Who giveth, accord-
ing to the Oracles, the things suitable to all ab«
solutely, the failure and deviation, and departure
and declension of the possession from the Good
of our own proper goods is not praiseworthy. But
let these things suffice to have been sufficiently said
according to our ability in our writings " Concerning
just and Divine chastisement" throughout which sacred
treatise the infallibility of the Oracles has cast aside
those sophistical statements as senseless words, speak-
ing injustice and falsehood against Almighty God,
But now, according to our ability, the Good has
been sufficiently praised, as really lovable,— as be-
ginning and end of all— as embracing things exist-
ing—as giving form to things not existing— as Cause
of all good things— as guiltless of things evil— as
Providence and Goodness complete— and soaring
above things that are and things that are not— and
turning to good things evil, and the privation of
Itself— as by all desired, and loved, and esteemed,
and whatever else, the true statement, as I deem,
has demonstrated in the preceding.

on Divine Names. 73

CAPUT V.

Concerning Being — in which also concerning
Exemplars.

Section I,
Let us now then pass to the name " Being " — given
in the Oracles as veritably that of Him, Who verit-
ably is. But we will recall to your remembrance
this much, that the purpose of our treatise is not
to make known the superessential Essence — qua
superessential — -(for this is inexpressible, and un-
knowable, and altogether unrevealed, and surpassing
the union itself), but to celebrate the progression
of the supremely Divine Source of Essence, which
gives essence to all things being. For the Divine
Name of the Good, as making known the whole
progressions of the Cause of all, is extended, both
to things being, and things not being, and is above
things being, and things not being. But the Name
of Being is extended to all things being, and
is above things being; — and the Name of Life
is extended to all things living, and is above things
living ; and the Name of Wisdom is extended to
all the intellectual and rational and sensible, and
is above all these.

Section II.
The treatise, then, seeks to celebrate these, the
Names of God, which set forth His Providence.
For it does not profess to express the very super-
essential Goodness, and Essence, and Life, and

74 Dionysius the Areopagite^

Wisdom, of the very superessential Deity, Which
is seated above all Goodness, and Deity, and
Essence, and Wisdom, and Life,— in secret places,
as the Oracles affirm. But it celebrates the bene-
ficial Providence, which has been set forth as pre-
eminently Goodness and Cause of all good things,
and as Being, and Life, and Wisdom,— the Cause
essentiating and vivifying, and wise-making, of those
who partake of essence, and life, and mind, and
reason, and sense. But it does not affirm that the
Good is one thing, and the Being another; and
that Life is other than Wisdom ; nor that the Causes
are many, and that some deities produce one thing
and others another, as superior and inferior; but
that the whole good progressions and the Names
of God, celebrated by us, are of one God ; and that
the one epithet makes known the complete Pro-
vidence of the one God, but that the others are
indicative of His more general and more particular
providences.

Section III.
Yet, some one might say, for what reason do
we affirm that Life is superior to Being, and Wisdom
to Life ? Things with life no doubt are above things
that merely exist— things sensible above those which
merely live,— and things rational above these,— and
the Minds r above the rational, and are around God,
and are more near to Him. Yet, things which
partake of greater gifts from God, must needs be

■ Angels.

on Divine Names. 75

better and superior to the rest. But if any one
assumed the intellectual to be without being, and
without life, the statement might hold good. But
if the Divine Minds are both above all the rest
of beings, and live above the other living beings,
and think and know, above sensible perception and
reason, and, beyond all the other existing beings,
aspire to, and participate in, the Beautiful and Good,
they are more around the Good, participating in It
more abundantly, and having received larger and
greater gifts from It. As also, the rational creatures
excel those of sensible perception, by their superiority
in the abundance of reason, and these, by their
sensible perception, and others, by their life. And
this, as I think, is true, that the things which
participate more in the One and boundless-giving
God, are more near to Him, and more divine,
than those who come behind them (in gifts).

Section IV.
Now, since we are speaking of these things, come
then, and let us praise the Good, as veritably Being,
and giving essence to all things that be. He, Who
is, is superessential, sustaining Cause of the whole
potential Being, and Creator of being, existence,
subsistence, essence, nature ; Source and Measure
of ages, and Framer of times, and Age of things that
be, Time of things coming into being, Being of things
howsoever being, Birth of things howsoever born.
From Him, Who is, is age, and essence, and being,
and time, and birth, and thing born ; the realities

7 6 Dionysius the Areopagite,

in things that be, and things howsoever existing
and subsisting. For Almighty God is not relatively
a Being, but absolutely and unboundedly, having
comprehended and anticipated the whole Being
in Himself. Wherefore, He is also called King of
the ages, since the whole being both is, and is
sustained, in Him and around Him. And He
neither was, nor will be, nor became, nor becomes,
nor will become— yea rather, neither is. But He
is the Being to things that be, and not things that
be only, but the very being of things that be,
absolutely from before the ages. For He is the
Age of ages— the Existing before the ages.

Section V.
Summing up, then, let us say, that the being
to all beings and to the ages, is from the Pre-
existing. And every age and time is from Him.
And of every age and time, and of everything,
howsoever existing, the Pre-existing is Source and
Cause. And all things participate in Him, and
from no single existing thing does He stand aloof.
And He is before all things, and all things in Him
consist. And absolutely, if anything is, in any way
whatsoever, it both is, and is contemplated, and
is preserved in the Pre-existing. And, before all the
other participations in Him, the being is pre-sup-
posed. And self-existent Being has precedence of
the being- self-existent Life; and the being self-
existent Wisdom ; and the being self-existent Divine
Likeness; and the other beings, in whatever gifts

o?i Divine Names. 77

participating, before all these participate in being;
yea, rather, all self-existent things, of which existing
things participate, participate in the self-existent
Being. And there is nothing existent, of which the
self-existent Being is not essence and age. Natur-
ally, then, more chiefly than all the rest, Almighty
God is celebrated as Being, from the prior of His
other gifts ; for pre-possessing even pre-existence, and
super-existence, and super-possessing being, He pre-
established all being, I mean self-existent being ; and
subjected everything, howsoever existing, to Being
Itself. And then, all the sources of beings, as
participating in being, both are, and are sources,
and first are, and then are sources. And, if you
wish to say, that the self-existent Life is source of
living things, as living ; and the self-existent Simi-
litude, of things similar as similar; and the self-
existent Union, of things united, as united ; and
the self-existent Order, of things ordered, as ordered •
and of the rest, as many as, by participating in this
or that, or both, or many, are this or that, or both,
or many, you will find the self-existent participations
themselves, first participating in being, and by their
being, first remaining; — then being sources of this
or that, and by their participating in being, both
being, and being participated. But, if these are
by their participation of being, much more the
things participating in them.

Section VI.
The self-existent Super-goodness then, as pro-
jecting the first gift of self-existent being, is cele-

78 Dio?iysius the Areopagite,

brated by the elder and first of the participations ;
and being itself is from It, and in It; as also the
sources of things being, and all the things that
be, and the things howsoever sustained by being,
and that irresistibly, and comprehensively and uni-
formly. For even in a monad, every number pre-
exists in the form of a unit, and the monad holds
every number in itself singly. And every number
is united in the monad, but so far as it advances
from the monad, so far it is distributed and mul-
tiplied. And in a centre, all the lines 8 of the circle
coexist within one union, and the point holds all
the straight lines in itself, uniformly united, both
to each other, and to the one source from which
they proceeded, and in the centre itself they are
completely united ; but standing slightly distant from
it, they are slightly separated ; but when more apart,
more so. And in one word, the nearer they are
to the centre, the more they are united to it and
to each other? and the more they stand apart from
it, the more they stand apart from each other.

Section VII.
But all the proportions of nature individually
are comprehended in the whole nature of the whole,
within one unconfused union; and in the soul,
the powers of each several part are provident of
the whole body in a uniform fashion. There is
nothing out of place then, that, by ascending from
obscure images to the Cause of all, we should con-
» i.e. the radii.

on Divine Names. 79

template, with supermundane eyes, all things in
the Cause of all, even those contrary to each other,
after a single fashion and unitedly. For It is Source
of things existing, from which are both being itself,
and all things however being; every source, every
term, every life, every immortality, every wisdom,
every order, every harmony, every power, every
protection, every stability, every endurance, every
conception, every word, every sensible perception,
every habit, every standing, every movement, every
union, every mingling, every friendship, every agree-
ment, every difference, every limit, and whatever
other things existing by being, characterize all things
being.

Section VIII.
And from the same Cause of all, are the higher
and lower intellectual* essences of the godlike
angels ; and those of the souls ; and the natures
of the whole Cosmos ; all things whatsoever said to
be either in others, or by reflection. Yea, even
the all holy and most honoured Powers veritably
being, and established, as it were, in the vestibule
of the superessential Triad, are from It, and in It ;
and have the being and the godlike being ; and
after them, as regards Angels, the subordinate, sub-
ordinate^, and the remotest, most remotely, but as
regards ourselves, supermundanely. And the souls,
and all the other beings, according to the same rule,
have their being, and their well-being ; and are, and
are well ; by having from the Pre-existing their being
* Maximus, Scholia, cap. 4, sec. I.

80 Dionysius the Areopagite,

and their well-being. And in It are both being and
well-being; and from It, beginning; and in It,
guarded; and to It, terminated. And the preroga-
tives of being he distributes to the superior beings,
which the Oracles call even eternal. But being
itself never at any time fails all existing beings.
And even self-existent being is from the Pre-existent,
and of Him is being, and He is not of being ;— and
in Him is being, and He is not in being; and
being possesses Him, and not He possesses being ;
and He is both age and beginning, and measure of
being; being essentiating Source, and Middle and
End, of pre-essence, and being and age and all things.
And for this reason, by the Oracles, the veritably
Pre-existing is represented under many forms, accord-
ing to every conception of beings, and the " Was "
and the " Is," and the " Will be," and the " Became,"
and the " Becomes," and the " Will become," are
properly sung respecting Him. For all these, to
those who think worthily of God, signify by every
conception His being superessentially, and Cause in
every way of things existing. For He is not this,
but not that; nor is He in some way, but not in
some other; but He is all things, as Cause of all,
and containing and pre-holding in Himself all govern-
ments, all controls, of all existing things. And He
is above all, as superessentially super-being before all.
Wherefore, also, all things are predicated of Him
and together, and He is none of them all ; of every
shape, of every kind, without form, without beauty,
anticipating in Himself, beginnings and middles,

on Divine Names. Si

and ends of things existing, irresistibly and pre-
eminently ; and shedding forth without flaw, (the
light of) being to all, as beseems a One and super-
united Cause. For, if our sun, at the same time
that he is one and sheds a uniform light, renews
the essences and qualities of sensible creatures,
although they are many and various, and nourishes
and guards, and perfects and distinguishes, and
unites, and fosters, and makes to be productive, and
increases, and transforms, and establishes, and makes
to grow, and awakens, and gives life to all ; and each
of the whole, in a manner appropriate to itself, par-
ticipates in the same and one sun ; and the one
sun anticipated in himself, uniformly, the causes of
the many participants ; much more with regard to
the Cause of it and of all things, ought we to con-
cede that It first presides over, as beseems One
superessential Oneness, all the exemplars of things
existing; since He produces even essences, as be-
seems the egression from essence. But, we affirm
that the exemplars are the methods in God, giving
essence to things that be, and pre-existing uniformly,
which theology calls predeterminations, and Divine
and good wills, which define and produce things
existing ; according to which (predeterminations) the
Superessential both predetermined and brought into
existence everything that exists.

Section IX.
But, if the Philosopher Clemens thinks good, that
the higher amongst beings should be called exem-

82; Dionysius the Areop agile,

plars in relation to something, his statement advances,
not through correct and perfect and simple names.
But, when we have conceded even this, to be cor-
rectly said, we must call to mind the Word of God,
which says, " I have not shewn thee these things for
the purpose of going after them, but that through
the proportionate knowledge of these we may be led
up to the Cause of all, as we are capable."

We must attribute, then, all existing things to It,
as beseems One Union pre-eminent above all, since
by starting from Being, the essentiating Progression
and Goodness, both penetrating all, and filling all
things with Its own being, and rejoicing over all
things being, pre-holds all things in Itself, rejecting
all duplicity by an one superfluity of simplicity.
But It grasps all things in the same way, as beseems
its super-simplified Infinity, and is participated in by
all uniquely, even as a voice, whilst being one and
the same, is participated in by many ears as one.

Section X.
The Pre-existing then is beginning and end of
existing things ; beginning indeed as Cause, and end
as for whom ; and term of all, and infinitude of all
infinitude ; and term, especially, of things that are,
as it were, opposed. For in One, as we have often
said, He both pre-holds and sustains all existing
things, being present to all, and everywhere, both as
regards the one, and the same, and as the every same,
and issuing forth to all, and abiding in Himself;
and standing and moving, and neither standing nor

on Divine Names. 83

moving ; neither having beginning, or middle, or
end ; neither in any of the existing things, nor being
any of the existing things. And neither does any of
the things eternally existing, or those temporarily
subsisting, entirely come up to Him, but He towers
above time and eternity, and all things eternal and
temporal. Wherefore also, He is Eternity itself, and
things existing, and the measures of things existing,
and things measured through Him and from Him.
But let us speak of these things more opportunely on
another occasion.

CAPUT VI.

Concerning Life.
Section I.
Now let us sing the Eternal Life, from which
comes the sdf^existmg Lite, and every life; and
from which, to all things however partaking of life,
is distributed the power to live appropriately to each.
Certainly the life and the immortality of the im-
mortal Angels, and the very indestructibility of the
angelic perpetual motion, both is, and is sustained
from It, and by reason of It. Wherefore, they are
also called living always and immortal; and again,
not immortal, because not from themselves have they
their immortality and eternal life; but from the
vivifying Cause forming and sustaining all life ; and
as we said of Him, Who is, that He is Age even
of the self-existing Being, so also here again (we say)
that the Divine Life, which is above life, is life-

84 Dionysius the Areopagite,

giving and sustaining even of the self-existing Life j
and every life and life-giving movement is from the
Life which is above every life, and all source of all
life. From It, even the souls have their indestructi-
bility, and all living creatures, and plants in their
most remote echo of life, have their power to live.
And when It is "taken away," according to the
Divine saying, all life fails, and to It even things
that have failed, through their inability to participate
in It, when again returning, again become living
creatures.

Section II.

And It gives chiefly to the self-existing Life to be
a life, and to every life, and to the individual life,
that each should be conformable to that which
nature intended it to be. And to the supercelestial
lives It gives the immaterial and godlike, and un-
changeable immortality; and the unswerving and
undeviating perpetual movement ; whilst extending
Itself through excess of goodness, even to the life of
demons u . For, neither has this its being from another
cause, but from It life has both its being and its
continuance. Further, It bequeaths even to men
the angelic life, so far as is possible to compound
being, and through an overflowing love towards man
turns, and calls us back to Itself, even when we
are departing from It ; and, what is still more Divine,
promises to transfer even our whole selves (I mean
souls, and bodies their yoke-fellows), to a perfect life

u Rom. xi. 29, "For the gifts of God are without repent-
ance."

on Divine Names. 85

and immortality ;— a fact which perhaps seems to
Antiquity contrary to nature, but to me, and to thee,
and to the truth, both Divine and above nature.
But, by " above nature," I understand our visible
nature, not the all-powerful nature of the Divine
Life. For, to this, as being nature of all the living
creatures, and especially the more Divine, no life is
against nature, or above nature. So that the con-
tradictory statements of Simon's folly on this matter,
let them be far repelled from a Divine assembly,
and from thy reverent soul. For this escaped him,
as I imagine, whilst thinking to be wise, that the
right-thinking man ought not to use the visible
reason of the sensible perception, as an ally against
the invisible Cause of all ; and this must be our
reply to him, that his statement is against nature, for
to It nothing is contrary.

Section III.
From It, both all living creatures and plants
draw their life and nourishment ; and whether you
speak of intellectual, or rational, or sensible, or
nourishing, or growing, or whatever, life, or source
of life, or essence of life, from It, which is above
every life, it both lives and thrives; and in It, as
Cause, uniformly pre-existed. For the super-living,
and life-springing Life is Cause both of all life, and is
generative, and completive, and dividing of life, and
is to be celebrated from every life, in consequence of
its numerous generation of all lives, as Manifold,
and contemplated, and sung by every life ; and as

86 Dionysius the Areopapte,

without need, yea, rather, superfull of life, the Self-
living, and above every life, causing to live and super-
living, or in whatever way one might extol the
life which is unutterable by human speech.

CAPUT VII.

Concerning Wisdom, Mind, Reason, Truth, Faith.

Section I,
Come then, if you please, let us sing the good
and eternal Life, both as wise, and as wisdom's self;
yea, rather, as sustaining all wisdom, and being
superior to all wisdom and understanding. For,
not only is Almighty God superfull of wisdom, and
of His understanding there is no number, but He
is fixed above all reason and mind and wisdom.
And, when the truly divine man, the common sun
of us, and of our leader, had thought this out, in
a sense above nature, he says, "the foolishness of
God is wiser than men," (meaning) not only that all
human intelligence is a sort of error, when tried by
the stability and durability of the Divine and most
perfect conceptions, but that it is even usual with
the theologians to deny, with respect to God, things
of privation, in an opposite sense. Thus, the Oracles
declare, the All-luminous Light, invisible, and Him,
Who is often sung, and of many names, to be un-
utterable and without name, and Him, Who is present
to all, and is found of all, to be incomprehensible
and past finding out. In this very way, even now, the

on Divine Names. 87

Divine Apostle is said to have celebrated as " foolish-
ness of God," that which appears unexpected and
absurd in it, (but) which leads to the truth which is
unutterable and before all reason. But, as I else-
where said, by taking the things above us, in a sense
familiar to ourselves, and by being entangled by
what is congenial to sensible perceptions, and by
comparing things Divine with our own conditions,
we are led astray through following the Divine and
mystical reason after a mere appearance. We ought
to know that our mind has the power for thought,
through which it views things intellectual, but that
the union through which it is brought into contact
with things beyond itself surpasses the nature of
the mind. We must then contemplate things Di-
vine, after this Union, not after ourselves, but by
our whole selves, standing out of our whole selves,
and becoming wholly of God. For it is better to
be of God, and not of ourselves. For thus things
Divine will be given to those who become dear
to God. Celebrating then, in a superlative sense,
this, the irrational and mindless and foolish Wisdom,
wei affirm that It is Cause of all mind and reason,
and all wisdom and understanding ; and of It is
every counsel, and from It every knowledge and
understanding ; and in It all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge are hidden. For, agreeably to the
things already spoken, the super-wise, and all-wise
Cause is a mainstay * even of the self-existing Wisdom,
both the universal and the individual.

1 See Caput XL, Section VI.

88 Dionysius the Areopagite,

Section II.
From It the contemplated and contemplating
powers of the angelic Minds have their simple
and blessed conceptions; collecting their divine
knowledge, not in portions, or from portions, or
sensible perceptions, or detailed reasonings, or
arguing from something common to these things,
but purified from everything material and multitu-
dinous, they contemplate the conceptions of Divine
things intuitively, immaterially and uniformly, and
they have their intellectual power and energy re-
splendent with the unmixed and undefiled purity,
and see at a glance the Divine conceptions indi-
visibly and immaterially, and are by the Godlike
One moulded, as attainable by reason of the Divine
Wisdom, to the Divine and Super-wise Mind and
Reason. And souls have their reasoning power, in-
vestigating the truth of things by detailed steps and
rotation, and through their divided and manifold
variety falling short of the single minds, but, by the
collection of many towards the One, deemed worthy,
even of conceptions equal to the angels, so far
as is proper and attainable to souls. But, even as
regards the sensible perceptions themselves, one
would not miss the mark, if one called them an
echo of wisdom. Yet, even the mind of demons,
qud mind, is from It; but so far as a mind is ir-
rational, not knowing, and not wishing to attain
what it aspires to, we must call it more properly
a declension from wisdom. But, since the Divine
Wisdom is called source, and cause, and mainstay,

on Divine JVames. 89

and completion and guard, and term of wisdom
itself, and of every kind, and of every mind and
reason, and every sensible perception, how then is
Almighty God Himself, the super-wise, celebrated as
Mind and Reason and Knowledge? For, how will
He conceive any of the objects of intelligence,
seeing He has not intellectual operations? or how
will He know the objects of sense, seeing He is
fixed above all sensible perception ? Yet the Oracles
affirm that He knoweth all things, and that nothing
escapes the Divine Knowledge. But, as I have been
accustomed to say many times before, we must con-
template things Divine, in a manner becoming God.
For the mindless, and the insensible, we must attribute
to God, by excess — not by defect, just as we attribute
the irrational to Him Who is above reason ; and
imperfection, to the Super-perfect, and Pre-perfect ;
and the impalpable, and invisible gloom, to the light
which is inaccessible on account of excess of the
visible light. So the Divine Mind comprehends
all things, by His knowledge surpassing all, having
anticipated within Himself the knowledge of all,
as beseems the Cause of all; before angels came
to being, knowing and producing angels ; and know-
ing all the rest from within ; and, so to speak, from
the Source Itself, and by bringing into being. And,
this, I think, the sacred text teaches, when it says,
" He, knowing all things, before their birth." For,
not as learning existing things from existing things,
does the Divine Mind know, but from Itself, and
in Itself, as Cause, it pre-holds and pre-comprehends

90 Dionysius the Areopagite,

the notion and knowledge, and essence of all things \
not approaching each several thing according to its
kind, but knowing and containing all things, within
one grasp of the Cause ; just as the light, as cause,
presupposes in itself the notion of darkness, not
knowing the darkness otherwise than from the light.
The Divine Wisdom then, by knowing Itself, will
know all things ; things material, immaterially, and
thing6 divisible, indivisibly, and things many, uni-
formly; both knowing and producing all things by
Itself, the One. For even, if as becomes one Cause,
Almighty God distributes being to all things that
be, as beseems the self-same, unique Cause, He will
know all things, as being from Himself, and pre-
established in Himself, and not from things that be
will He receive the knowledge of them ; but even
to each of them, He will be provider of the know-
ledge of themselves, and of the mutual knowledge
of each other. Almighty God, then, has not one know-
ledge, that of Himself, peculiar to Himself, and an-
other, which embraces in common all things existing ;
for the very Cause of all things, by knowing Itself,
will hardly, I presume, be ignorant of the things
from Itself, and of which It is Cause. In this way
then, Almighty God knows existing things, not by
a knowledge of things existing, but by that of
Himself. For the Oracles affirm, that the angels
also know things on the earth, not as knowing
them by sensible perceptions, although objects of
sensible perception, but by a proper power and
mature of the Godlike Mind.

on Divine Names. 9 r

Section III.
In addition to these things, we must examine how
we know God, Who is neither an object of intel-
lectual nor of sensible perception, nor is absolutely
anything of things existing. Never, then, is it true
to say, that we know God ; not from His own nature
(for that is unknown, and surpasses all reason and
mind), but, from the ordering of all existing things,
as projected from Himself, and containing a sort
of images and similitudes of His Divine exemplars,
we ascend, as far as we have power, to that which
is beyond all, by method and order in the abstraction
and pre-eminence of all, and in the Cause of all.
Wherefore, Almighty God is known even in all, and
apart from all. And through knowledge, Almighty
God is known, and through agnosia. And there is,
of Him, both conception, and expression, and science, /

and contact, and sensible perception, and opinion,
and imagination, and name, and all the rest. And
He is neither conceived, nor expressed, nor named.
And He is not any of existing things, nor is He
known in any one of existing things, And He is all
in all, and nothing in none. And He is known to
all, from all, and to none from none. For, we
both say these things correctly concerning God, and
He is celebrated from all existing things, according
to the analogy of all things, of which He is Cause.
And there is, further, the most Divine Knowledge
of Almighty God, which is known, through not
knowing (agnosia) during the union above mind;
when the mind, having stood apart from all existing

92 Dionysius the Areopagite,

things, then having dismissed also itself, has been
made one with the super-luminous rays, thence and
there being illuminated by the unsearchable depth
of wisdom. Yet, even from all things, as I said,
we may know It, for It is, according to the sacred
text, the Cause formative of all, and ever harmo-
nizing all, and (Cause) of the indissoluble adapta-
tion and order of all, and ever uniting v the ends of
the former to the beginnings of those that follow,
and beautifying the one symphony and harmony
of the whole.

Section IV.
But Almighty God is celebrated in the holy
Oracles as " Logos " ; not only because He is pro-
vider of reason and mind and wisdom, but because
He anticipated the causes of all, solitarily in Him-
self, and because He passes through all, as the
Oracles say, even to the end of all things; and
even more than these, because the Divine Word
surpasses every simplicity, and is set free from all, as
the Superessential. This " Logos " is the simple and
really existing truth, around which, as a pure and
unerring knowledge of the whole, the Divine Faith
is — the enduring foundation of the believers — which
establishes them in the truth, and the truth in them,
by an unchangeable identity, they having the pure
knowledge of the truth of the things believed. For,
if knowledge unites the knowing and the known, but
ignorance is ever a cause to the ignorant person of

? True theory of evolution.

on Divine Names. 93

change, and of separation from himself, nothing will
move one who has believed in the truth, according
to the sacred Logos, from true Faith's Sanctuary
upon which he will have the steadfastness of his
unmoved, unchangeable identity. For, well does
he know, who has been united to the Truth, that
it is well with him although the multitude may ad-
monish him as " wandering." For it probably escapes
them, that he is wandering from error to the truth,
through the veritable faith. But, he truly knows
himself, not, as they say, mad, but as liberated from
the unstable and variable course around the mani-
fold variety of error, through the simple, and ever
the same, and similar truth. Thus then the early
leaders z of our Divine Theosophy are dying every
day, on behalf of truth, testifying as is natural, both
by every word and deed, to the one knowledge of
the truth of the Christians, that it is of all, both
more simple and more Divine, yea rather, that it
is the sole true and one and simple knowledge
of God.

CAPUT VIII.

Concerning power, justice, preservation, redemption,

in which also concerning inequality.

Section I.

But since the theologians sing the Divine truth

fulness and super-wise wisdom, both as power and

z First persecution of Nero.

94 Dionysius the Areopagite,

as justice, arid designate It preservation and re-
demption, come then, let us unfold these Divine
Names also, as best we can. Now, that the God-
head is pre-eminent above, and surpasses every
power, howsoever being and conceived, I do not
suppose any of those nourished in the Divine
Oracles does not know. For on many occasions
the -Word of God attributes the Lordship to It,
even when distinguishing It from the supercelestial
powers themselves. How then do the theologians
sing it also as a Power, which is pre-eminent above
every power? or how ought we to understand the
name of power as applied to It ?

Section II.
We say, then, that Almighty God is Power, as pre-
having, and super-having, every power in Himself,
and as Author of every power, and producing every-
thing as beseems a Power inflexible and unencom-
passed, and as being Author of the very existence of
power, either the universal or particular, and as
boundless in power, not only by the production of
all power, but by being above all, even the self,
existent Power, and by His superior power, and
by His bringing into existence, ad infinitum, endless
powers other than the existing powers ; and by the
fact that the endless powers, even when brought into
existence without end, are not able to blunt the
super-endless production of His power-making power;
and by the unutterable and unknown, and incon-
ceivable nature of His all-surpassing power, which,

on Divine Names. 95

through abundance of the powerful, gives power even
to weakness, and holds together and preserves the
remotest of its echoes; as also we may see even
with regard to the powerful insensible perception,
that the super-brilliant lights reach even to obscure
visions, and they say, that the loud sounds enter
even into ears which are not very well adapted to the
reception of sounds. For that which does not hear
at all is not hearing ; and that which does not see at
all is not sight.

Section III.

The distribution, then, of boundless power, from
Almighty God, passes to all beings, and there is no
single being which is utterly deprived of the pos-
session of some power ; but it has either intellectual,
or rational, or sensible, or vital, or essential power ;
yea even, if one may say so, self-existent being has
power to be from the superessential Power.

Section IV.

From It, are the godlike powers of the angelic
ranks ; from It, they have their immutability, and all
their intellectual and immortal perpetual movements ;
and their equilibrium itself, and their undiminishable
aspiration after good, they have received from the
Power boundless in goodness ; since It commits to
them the power to be, and to be such, and to aspire
always to be, and the power itself to aspire to have
the power always.

9 6 Dionysius the Areopagite,

Section V.
But the gifts of the unfailing Power pass on, both
to men and living creatures, and plants, and the
entire nature of the universe; and It empowers
things united for their mutual friendship and com-
munion, and things divided for their being each with-
in their own sphere and limit, without confusion, and
without mingling ; and preserves the order and good
relations of the whole, for their own proper good,
and guards the undying lives of the individual angels
inviolate ; and the heavenly and the life-giving and
astral bodies* and orders without change: and
makes the period of time possible to be ; and dis-
perses the revolutions of time by their progressions,
and collects them together by their returns; and
makes the powers of fire unquenchable, and the
rills of water unfailing; and sets bounds to the
aerial current, and establishes the earth upon no-
thing ; and guards its life-giving throes from perish-
ing ; and preserves the mutual harmony and ming-
ling of the elements without confusion, and without
division ; and holds together the bond of soul and
body; and arouses the nourishing and growing
powers of plants ; and sustains the essential powers
of the whole ; and secures the continuance of the
universe without dissolution, and bequeaths the
deification Itself, by furnishing a power for this to
those who are being deified. And in a word, there
is absolutely no single thing which is deprived of

* ovoia.%.

on Divine Names. 97

the overruling surety and embrace of the Divine

Power. For that which absolutely has no power,

neither is, nor is anything, nor is there any sort of
position of it whatever.

Section VI.
Yet Elymas, the Magician, says, "if Almighty
God is All-powerful, how is He said by your theo-
logian, not to be able to do some thing " ? But he
calumniates the Divine Paul, who said, "that Al-
mighty God is not able to deny Himself." Now in
advancing this, I very much fear lest I should incur
ridicule for folly, as undertaking to pull down frail
houses, built upon the sand by little boys at play ;
and as being eager to aim at the theological in-
telligence of this, as if it were some inaccessible
mark. For, the denial of Himself, is a falling from
truth, but the truth is an existent, and the falling
from the truth is a falling from the existent. If, then,
the truth is an existent, and the denial of the truth a
falling from the existent, Almighty God cannot fall
from the existent, and non-existence is not ; as any
one might say, the powerless is not powerful; and
ignorance, by privation, does not know. The wise
man, not having understood this, imitates those
inexperienced wrestlers, who, very often, by as-
suming that their adversaries are weak, according to
their own opinion, and manfully making a show of
fight with them, when absent, and courageously beat-
ing the air with empty blows, think that they have
overcome their antagonists, and proclaim themselves

9 8 Diony sius the Areopagite,

victors (though) not yet having experienced their
rivals' strength. But we, conjecturing the meaning
of the Theologian to the best of our ability, celebrate
the Super-powerful God, as Omnipotent, as blessed,
and only Lord ; as reigning in the kingdom of Eter-
nity itself; as in no respect fallen from things exist-
ing ; -but rather, as both super-having and pre-having
all existing things, as beseems Power superessential ;
and as having bequeathed to all things being, the
power to be, and this their being in an ungrudging
stream, as beseems abundance of surpassing power.

Section VII.
But further, Almighty God is celebrated as justice,
as distributing things suitable to all, both due
measure, and beauty, and good order, and arrange-
ment, and marking out all distributions and orders
for each, according to that which truly is the most
just limit, and as being Cause for all of the free
action of each. For the Divine Justice arranges
and disposes all things, and preserving all things
unmingled and unconfused, from all, gives to all
existing beings things convenient for each, according
to the due b falling to each existing thing. And,
if we speak correctly, all those who abuse the
Divine Justice, unconsciously convict themselves of
a manifest injustice. For they say, that immortality
ought to be in mortals, and perfection in the im-
perfect, and imposed necessity in the free, and

on Divine Names. 99

identity in the variable, and perfect power in the
weak, and the temporal should be eternal, and
things moveable by nature, unchangeable, and that
temporary pleasures should be eternal ; and in one
word, they assign the properties of one thing to
another. They ought to know that the Divine
Justice in this respect is really a true justice, be-
cause it distributes to all the things proper to them-
selves, according to the fitness of each existing
thing, and preserves the nature of each in its own
order and capacity.

Section VIII.
But some one may say, it is not the mark of justice
to leave pious men without assistance, when they
are ground down by evil men. To which we must
reply, that, if those whom you call pious do indeed
love things on earth, which are zealously sought
after by the earthly, they have altogether fallen from
the Divine Love. And I do not know how they
could be called pious, when they unjustly treat
things truly loveable and divine, which do not at
once surpass in influence in their estimation things
undesirable and unloveable. But, if they love the
realities, they who desire certain things ought to
rejoice when they attain the things desired. Are
they not then nearer the angelic virtues, when, as
far as possible, by aspiration after things Divine,
they withdraw from the affection for earthly things,
by being exercised very manfully to this, in their
perils, on behalf of the beautiful ? So that, it is true

i oo Dionysius the Areopagite,

to say, that this is rather a property of the Divine
Justice — not to pamper and destroy the bravery of
the best, by the gifts of earthly things, nor, if any one
should attempt to do this, to leave them without
assistance, but to establish them in the excellent and
harsh condition, and to dispense to them, as being
such, things meet for them.

Section IX,
This Divine Justice, then, is celebrated also even
as preservation of the whole, as preserving and
guarding the essence and order of each, distinct and
pure from the rest ; and as being genuine cause
of each minding its own business in the whole. But,
if any one should also celebrate this preservation,
as rescuing savingly the whole from the worse, we
will entirely accept this as the cantique of the
manifold preservation, and we will deem him worthy
to define this even as the principal preservation
of the whole, which preserves all things in them-
selves, without change, undisturbed and unswaying
to the worse ; and guards all things without strife
and without war, each being regulated by their own
methods ; and excludes all inequality and minding
others' business, from the whole j and maintains the
relations of each from falling to things contrary, and
from migrating. And since, without missing the
mark of the sacred theology, one might celebrate
this preservation as redeeming all things existing,
by the goodness which is preservative of all, from
falling away from their own proper goods, so far

on Divine Names.

101

as the nature of each of those who are being pre-
served admits ; wherefore also the Theologians name
it redemption, both so far as it does not permit
things really being to fall away to non-existence, and
so far as, if anything should have been led astray
to discord an (J disorder, and should suffer any di
minution of the perfection of its own proper goods,
even this it redeems from passion and listlessness
and loss ; supplying what is deficient, and paternally
overlooking the slackness, and raising up from evil ;
yea, rather, establishing in the good, and filling
up the leaking good, and arranging and adorning
its disorder and deformity, and making it complete,
and liberating it from all its blemishes. But let
this suffice concerning these matters, and concerning
Justice, in accordance with which the equality of
all is measured and defined, and every inequality,
which arises from deprivation of the equality, in each
thing severally, is excluded. For, if any one should
interpret inequality as distinctions in the whole,
of the whole, in relation to the whole, Justice guards
even this, not permitting the whole, when they have
become mingled throughout, to be thrown into con-
fusion, but keeping all existing things within each
particular kind, in which each was intended by nature
to be.

102 D ion y si its the Areopagite,

CAPUT IX.

Concerning great, small, same, different, similar,
dissi?nilar, standing, movetnent, equality.

Section I.
But since even the great and the small are at-
tributed to the Cause of all, and the same, and the
different, and the similar, and the dissimilar, and
the standing, and the movement. Come ! and let
us gaze upon these images of the Divine Names,
such as have been manifested to us. Almighty God,
then, is celebrated in the Oracles as great, both
in greatness and in a gentle breeze, which manifests
the Divine littleness; and as the same, when the
Oracles declare " thou art the same " ; and as dif-
ferent, when He is depicted, by the same Oracles,
as of many shapes and many forms ; and as similar,
as mainstay of things similar and similitude ; and
as dissimilar to all, as the like of whom there is not ;
and as standing, and unmoved, and seated for ever ;
and as moving, as going forth to all ; and whatever
other Divine Names, of the same force with these,
are celebrated by the Oracles.

Section II.
Almighty God, then, is named great in reference
to His own peculiar greatness, which imparts itself
to all things great ; and overflows, and extends itself
outside of all greatness; embracing every place,
surpassing every number, going through every infi-
nitude, both in reference to its super-fulness, and

on Divine Names. 103

mighty operation, and its fontal gifts, in so far as
these, being participated by all in a stream of bound-
less gifts, are altogether undiminished, and have
the same superfulness, and are not lessened by
the impartations, but are even still more bubbling
over. This Greatness then is infinite, and without
measure and without number. And this is the pre-
eminence as regards the absolute and surpassing
flood of the incomprehensible greatness.

Section III.
But little, i.e. fine, is affirmed respecting Him, —
that which leaves behind every mass and distance,
and penetrates through all, without hindrance. Yet
the little is Elemental c Cause of all, for nowhere
will you find the idea of the little unparticipated.
Thus then the little must be received as regards
God as penetrating to all, and through all, without
impediment ; and operating, and piercing through,
to " a dividing of soul and spirit, and joints and
marrow"; and "discerning thoughts and intents of
heart," yea rather — all things that be. For there
is not a creature unmanifest in His sight. This
littleness is without quality and without quantity,
without restraint, without limit, without bound, com-
prehending all things, but itself incomprehensible.

Section IV.
But the same is superessentially everlasting, incon-
vertible, abiding in itself, always being in the same

c Atomic theory.

104 Dionysius the Areopagite,

condition and manner ; present to all in the same
manner, and itself by itself, upon itself, firmly and
purely fixed in the most beautiful limits of the super-
essential sameness, without changing, without falling,
without swerving, unalterable, unmingled, immaterial,
most simplex, self-sufficient, without increase, without
diminution, unoriginated, not as not yet come into
being, or unperfected, or not having become from
this, or that, nor as being in no manner of way
whatever, but as all unoriginated, and absolutely
unoriginated, and ever being; and being self-com-
plete, and being the same by itself, and differ-
entiated by itself in one sole and same form ; and
shedding sameness from itself to all things adapted
to participate in It ; and assigning things different
to those different ; abundance and cause of identity,
preholding identically in itself even things contrary,
as beseems the One and unique Cause, surpassing
the whole identity.

Section V.
But the different, since Almighty God is present
to all providentially, and becomes all in all, for the
sake of the preservation of all, resting upon Himself,
and His own identity within Himself, standing, as
beseems an energy, one and ceaseless, and imparting
Himself with an unbending power, for deification
of those turned to Him. And we must suppose that
the difference of the manifold shapes of Almighty
God, during the multiform visions, signifies that
certain things are different from the phenomena

on Divine Names, 105

under which they appear. For, as when language
depicts the soul itself, under a bodily form, and
fashions bodily members around the memberless, we
think differently of the members attributed to it, as
befits the soul's memberless condition ; and we call
the mind head, and opinion neck, — as intermediate
between rational and irrational — and anger, breast ;
and lust, belly j and the constitution, legs and feet ;
using the names of the members as symbols of the
powers. Much more then, as respects Him, Who is
beyond all, is it necessary to make clear the differ-
ence of forms and shapes by reverent and God-
becoming, and mystic explanations. And if you
wish to apply the threefold shapes of bodies to the
impalpable and shapeless God, you must say, that
the Progression of Almighty God, which spreads out
to all things, is a Divine extension ; and length, the
power extending itself over the whole; and depth,
the hiddenness and imperception d incomprehensible
to all creatures. But, that we may not forget our-
selves, in our explanation, of the different shapes and
forms, by confounding the incorporeal Divine Names
with those given through symbols of objects of sense,
we have for this reason spoken concerning these
things in the Symbolic Theology. But now, let us
suppose the Divine difference, as really not a sort
of change from the superimmovable identity, but as
the single multiplication of itself, and the uniform
progressions of its fecundity to all

d ayvuaiav.

106 Dionysius the Areopagite,

Section VI.
But similar, if any one might speak of Almighty
God as the same, as being wholly throughout, similar
to Himself— abidingly and indivisibly ; we must not
despise the Divine Name of the Similar; but the
Theologians affirm that the God above all, in His
essential nature, is similar to none; but that He
bequeaths a Divine similarity to those who turn to
Him, Who is above every limit and expression, by
imitation according to their capacity. And there is
the power of the Divine similitude, which turns all
created things to the Cause. These things, then,
must be said to be similar to Almighty God, both
after a Divine likeness and similitude. For, neither
must we say that Almighty God is similar to them,
because neither is a man like his own image. For,
with regard to those of the same rank, it is possible
that these should be similar to each other, and that
the similarity corresponds to each, and that both are
similar to each other, after a preceding appearance
of like. But, with respect to the Cause and the things
caused, we do not accept the correspondence. For,
the being similar is bequeathed, not to these, or
those, alone, but to all those who participate in
similarity. Almighty God becomes Cause of their
being similar, and is mainstay of the self-existing
Similarity itself; and the similar in all is similar to
a sort of footprint of the Divine Similarity and com-
pletes their Oneness.

on Divine Names. 107

Section VII.
And what must we say concerning this ? For the
Word of God Itself extols the fact that He is dissimi-
lar, and of the same rank with none ; as " different "
even from everything, and, what is more paradoxical,
says there is nothing that is similar to Him. Yet
the expression is not contrary to the similarity to-
wards Him, for the same things are both similar to
God, and dissimilar — the former as regards the re-
ceived imitation e of the inimitable, the latter as
regards the dependence of the things caused upon
the cause, and their being inferior in degrees, endless
and incalculable.

Section VIII.
But what also do we say concerning the Divine
standing, i.e. seat? What other than that Almighty
God remains Himself, in Himself, and is abidingly
fixed in unmoved identity, and is firmly established
on high • and that He acts according to the same
conditions, and in reference to the same object, and
in the same way; and that He exists altogether, as
beseems the immutability from Himself; and as be-
seems the immovability Itself, entirely immovable,
and that superessentially. For He is Cause of the
standing and sitting of all, Who is above all sitting
and standing, and in Him all things consist, being
kept from falling out of the state of their own proper
goods.

e Letter 2.

1 08 Dionysius the Areopagite,

Section IX.
But what again, when the Theologians say, that
the unmoved goes forth to all, and is moved? Must
we not understand this in a sense befitting God?
For we must reverently suppose that He is moved,
not as beseems carriage, or change, or alteration,
or turning, or local movement, or the straight, or the
circular, or that from both (curvative), or the intel-
lectual, or the spiritual, or the physical, but that
Almighty God brings into being and sustains every-
thing, and provides in every way for everything ;
and is present, to all, by the irresistible embrace of
all, and by His providential progressions and opera-
tions to all existing things. But we must concede to
our discourse, to celebrate in a sense becoming God,
even movements of God, the immovable. And the
straight must be considered (to be) the unswerving
and the undeviating progression of the operation, and
the production from Himself of the whole ; and the
curvative — the steady progression and the productive
condition ; and the circular-rthe same, and the hold-
ing together the middle and extremities, which en-
compass and are encompassed, — and the turning to
Him of the things which proceeded from Him.

Section X.
But, if any one should take the Divine Name in
the Oracles, of fl the same," or that of " justice," in
the sense of •" the equal" we must say, that Almighty
God is equal, not only as indivisible and unswerving,
but also as going forth to all, and through all,

on Divine Names.

109

equally ; and as foundation of the self-existent
Equality, in conformity with which, He equally
effects the same passage, through all things mutually,
and the participation of those who receive equally,
according to the aptitude of each ; and the equal gift
distributed to all, according to due ; and according
as He has anticipated pre-eminently and uniquely
in Himself, every equality, intelligible, intelligent,
rational, sensible, essential, physical, voluntary, as
beseems the Power over all, which is productive of
every equality.

CAPUT X.

Concerning Sovereign Lord, "Ancient of days" in
which also, concerning Age and Time f .

Section I.
The time, then, is come for our discourse, to sing
the God of many Names, as " Sovereign Lord," and
as " Ancient of days." For He is called the former,
by reason that He is an all-controlling basis, binding
and embracing the whole, and establishing and sup-
porting, and tightening, and completing the whole.
Continuous in itself, and from itself, producing the
whole, as it were from a Sovereign root, and turning
to itself the whole, as to a sovereign parent stock,
and holding them together as an all-embracing basis
of all, securing all the things embraced, within one
grasp superior to all, and not permitting them, when

f Dulac, p. 226.

1 10 Dionysius the Areopagite,

fallen from itself to be destroyed, as moved from an
all-perfect sanctuary. But the Godhead is called
Sovereign, both as controlling and governing the
members of His household, purely, and as being
desired and beloved by all, and as placing upon all
the voluntary yokes, and the sweet pangs of the
Divine and Sovereign, and in dissolvable love of the
Goodness itself.

Section II.

But Almighty God is celebrated as " Ancient of
days" because He is of all things both Age and
Time, — and before Days, and before Age and Time.
And yet we must affirm that He is Time and Day,
and appointed Time, and Age, in a sense befitting
God, as being throughout every movement unchange-
able and unmoved, and in His ever moving remain-
ing in Himself, and as being Author of Age and
Time and Days. Wherefore, in the sacred Divine
manifestations of the mystic visions, He is repre-
sented as both old and young ; the former indeed
signifying the "Ancient" and being from the begin-
ning, and the latter His never growing old ; or both
teaching that He advances through all things from
beginning to end, — or as our Divine initiator says,
" since each manifests the priority of God, the Elder
having the first place in Time, but the Younger the
♦priority in number; because the unit, and things
near the unit, are nearer the beginning than numbers
further advanced.

on Divine Names.

in

Section III.
But we must, as I think, see from the Oracles the
nature of Time and Eternity, for they do not always
(merely) call all the things absolutely unoriginated
and really everlasting, eternal, but also things im-
perishable and immortal and unchangeable, and
things which are in like fashion, as when they say,
" be ye opened, eternal doors," and the like. And
often they characterize the things the most ancient
by the name of Eternity; and again they call the
whole duration of our time Eternity, in so far as the
ancient and unchangeable, and the measurement of
existence throughout, is a characteristic of Eternity.
But they call time that concerned in generation and
decay and change, and sometimes the one, and
sometimes the other. Wherefore also, the Word of
God says that even we, who are bounded here by
time, shall partake of Eternity, when we have reached
the Eternity which is imperishable and ever the same.
But sometimes eternity is celebrated in the Oracles,
even as temporal, and time as eternal. But if we
know them better and more accurately, things spiri-
tual 5 are spoken of and denoted by Eternity, and
things subject to generation by time. It is necessary
then to suppose that things called eternal are not
absolutely co-eternal with God, Who is before
Eternity, but that following unswervingly the most
august Oracles, we should understand things eternal
and temporal according to the hopes recognized by

S t<x ovTa — actual.

1 1 2 Dionysius the Areopagite,

them, but whatever participates partly in eternity
and partly in time, as things midway between things
spiritual and things being born. But Almighty God
we ought to celebrate, both as eternity and time, as
Author of every time and eternity, and " Ancient of
days/' as before time, and above time ; and as
changing appointed seasons and times; and again
as being before ages, in so far as He is both before
eternity and above eternity and His kingdom, a king-
dom of all the Ages. Amen.

CAPUT XL

Concerning Peace, and what is jneant by the self-existent
Being ; what is the self-existent Life, and what the
self-existent Power, and such like expressions.

Section I.
Come, then, let us extol the Peace Divine, and
Source of conciliation, by hymns of peace ! For this
it is which unifies all, and engenders, and ejects the
agreement and fellowship of all. Wherefore, even
all things aspire to it, which turns their divided mul-
tiplicity into the thorough Oneness, and unifies the
tribal war of the whole into a homogeneous dwelling
together, by the participation of the divine Peace.
With regard, then, to the more reverend of the con-
ciliating powers, these indeed are united to them-
selves and to each other, and to the one Source
of Peace of the whole ; and the things (that are)
under them, these they unite also to themselves and

on Divine Names. , 113

to each other, and to the One and all-perfect Source
and Cause of the Peace of all, which, passing in-
divisibly to the whole, limits and terminates and
secures everything, as if by a kind of bolts, which
bind together things that are separated ; and do not
permit them, when separated, to rush to infinity and
the boundless, and to become without order, and
without stability, and destitute of God, and to depart
from the union amongst themselves, and to become
intermingled in each other, in every sort of con-
fusion. Concerning then, this, the Divine Peace and
Repose, which the holy Justus calls unutterableness,
and, as compared with every known progression, im-
mobility, how it rests and is at ease, and how it is in
itself, and within itself, and entire, and to itself
entire is super-united, and when entering into itself,
and multiplying itself, neither loses its own Union,
but even proceeds to all, whilst remaining entire
within, by reason of excess of its Union surpassing
all, it is neither permitted, nor attainable to any
existing being, either to express or to understand.
But, having premised this, as unutterable and un-
knowable, as being beyond all, let us examine its
conceived and uttered participations, and this, as
possible to men, and to us, as inferior to many good
men.

Section II.

First then, this must be said, that It is mainstay

of the self-existent Peace, both the general and the

particular; and that It mingles all things with each

other within their unconfused union, as beseems

1

ii4 Dionysius the Areopagite^

which, united indivisibly, and at the same time they
severally continuously unmingled stand, as regards
their own proper kind, not muddled through their
mingling with the opposite, nor blunting any
of their unifying distinctness and purity. Let us
then contemplate a certain One and simple nature
of the peaceful Union, unifying all things to Itself,
and to themselves, and to each other; and preserving
all things in an unconfused grasp of all, both un-
mingled and mingled together ; by reason of which
the divine Minds, being united, are united to their
own conceptions, and to the things conceived ; and
again they ascend to the unknowable contact of
things fixed above mind ; by reason of which, souls,
by uniting their manifold reasonings, and collecting
them together to an One intellectual Purity, advance
in a manner proper to themselves, by method and
order, through the immaterial and indivisible con-
ception, to the union above conception ; by reason
of which, the one and indissoluble connection of all
is established, within its Divine Harmony, and is
harmonized by complete concord and agreement
and fellowship, being united without confusion, and
held together without division. For the fulness of
the perfect Peace passes through to all existing
things, as beseems the most simple, and unmingled
presence of Its unifying power, making all One.
and binding the extremes through the intermediate
to the extremes, which are yoked together in an one
connatural friendship ; and bestowing the enjoyment
1 T tself, even to the furthest extremities of the whole,

on Divine Names. 115

and making all things of one family, by the unities,
the identities, the unions, the conjunctions of the
Divine Peace, standing of course indivisibly, and
showing all in one, and passing through all, and
not stepping out of Its own identity. For It ad-
vances to all, and imparts Itself to all, in a manner
appropriate to them, and there overflows an abund-
ance of peaceful fertility ; and It remains, through
excess of union, super-united, entire, to and through-
out Its whole self.

Section III.

But how, some one may say, do all things aspire
to peace, for many things rejoice in diversity and
division, and would not, at any time, of their own
accord, be willingly in repose. Now, if in saying
this, he affirms, that the identity of each existing
thing is diversity and division, and that there is
no existent thing whatever, which at any time is
willing to destroy this (identity), neither would we
in any way contradict this, but would delare even
this an aspiration after peace. For all things love
to dwell at peace, and to be united amongst them-
selves, and to be unmoved and unfallen from them-
selves, and the things of themselves. And the
perfect Peace seeks to guard the idiosyncrasy of
each unmoved and unconfused, by its peace-giving
forethought, preserving everything unmoved and
unconfused, both as regards themselves and each
other, and establishes all things by a stable and

1 1 6 Dionysius the Areopagite,

unswerving power, towards their own peace and
immobility.

Section IV.
And if all things in motion desire, not repose,
but ever to make known their own proper movement,
even this is an aspiration after the Divine Peace of
the whole, which preserves all things from falling
away of their own accord, and guards the idiosyn-
crasy and moving life of all moving things unmoved
and free from falling, so that the things moved, being
at peace amongst themselves, and always in the
same condition, perform their own proper functions.

Section V.
But if, in affirming the diversity as a falling from
peace, he insists that peace is not beloved by all,
verily there is no existing being which has entirely
fallen from every kind of union ; for, the altogether
unstable and infinite, and unestablished, and without
limit, is neither an actual thing, nor in things actual.
But if he says, that those are inimical to peace, and
good things of peace, who rejoice in strife and anger
and changes and disturbances, even these are con-
trolled by obscure images of a peaceful aspiration ;
being vexed by tumultuous passions, and ignorantly
aspiring to calm them, they imagine that they will
pacify themselves by the gratification of things which
ever elude them, and they are disturbed by the non-
attainment of the pleasures which overpowered them.
What would any one say of the peaceful stream of

on Divine Names. i t 7

love towards man in Christ, according to which we have
learned no longer to wage war, either with ourselves,
or each other, or with angels, but that with them,
according to our power, we should also be fellow-
workers in Divine things, after the purpose of Jesus,
Who worketh all in all, and forms a peace unutterable
and pre-determined from Eternity, and reconciles us
to Himself, in Spirit, and through Himself and in
Himself to the Father; concerning which super-
natural gifts it is sufficiently spoken in the Theological
Outlines, whilst the Oracles of the sacred inspiration
furnish us with additional testimony.

Section VI.
But, since you once asked me by letter, what
in the world I consider the self-existent Being, the
self-existent Life, the self-existent Wisdom, and said
that you debated with yourself how, at one time,
I call Almighty God, self-existent Life, and at
another, Mainstay of the self-existent Life, I thought
it necessary, O holy man of God, to also free you
from this difficulty, so far as lay in my power. And
first then, in order that we may now resume that
which I have said a thousand times already, there
is no contradiction in saying that Almighty God
is self-existent Power, or self-existent Life, and that
He is Mainstay of the self-existent Life or Peace
or Power. For the latter, He is named from things
existing, and specially from the first existing, as
Cause of all existing things ; and the former, as being
above all, even the first existing of beings, being

! j 8 Diony sites the Apeopagite,

above superessentially. But you say, what in the
world do we call the self-existent Being, or the self-
existent Life, or whatever we lay down to be ab-
solutely and originally and to have stood forth
primarily from God? And we reply, this is not
crooked but straight, and has a simple explanation.
For we do not say that the self-existent Being, as
Cause of the being of all things, is a sort of Divine
or angelic essence (for the Super-essential alone is
Source and Essence and Cause of the existence of
all things, and of the self-existent Being), nor that
another Deity, besides the Super-divine, produces
Life for all that live, and is a Life Causative of the
self-existent Life; nor to speak summarily, that
essences and personalities originate and make exist-
ing things, so that superficial people have named them
both gods, and creators of existing things,— whom,
to speak truly and properly, neither they themselves
knew (for they are non-existent), nor their fathers,—
but we call self-existent Being, and self-existent Life,
and self-existent Deity, as regards at least Source,
and Deity, and Cause, the One Superior and Super-
essential Source and Cause; but as regards Imparta-
tion, the providential Powers, that issue forth from
God the unparticipating, (these we call) the self-
existent essentiation, self-existent living, self-existent
deification, by participating in which according to
their own capacity, things existing, both are, and
are said to be, existing, and living, and full of God—
and the rest in the same way. Wherefore also, He
is called the good Mainstay of the first of these, then

on Divine Names. 119

of the whole of them, then of the portions of them,
then of those who participate in them entirely, then
of those who participate in them in part. And why
must we speak of these things, since some of our
divine instructors in holy things, affirm that the
Super-good and Super-divine self-existent Goodness
and Deity, is Mainstay even of the self-existent
Goodness and Deity ; affirming that the good-making
and deifying gift issued forth from God ; and that
the self-existent beautifying stream, is self-existent
beauty, and whole beauty, and partial beauty, and
things absolutely beautiful, and things partially
beautiful, and whatever other things are said and
shall be said after the same fashion, which declare
that providences and goodnesses issuing forth from
God the unparticipating, in an ungrudging stream,
are participated by existing things, and bubble over
in order that distinctly the Cause of all may be
beyond all, and the Superessential and Supernatural
may, in every respect, be above things of any sort
of essence and nature whatever.

CAPUT XII.

Concerning Holy of Holies, King of Kings, Lord of
Lords, God of Gods.

Section I.
But since whatever we have to say on these
matters has reached, in my opinion, a fitting con-
clusion, we must sing Him of endless names, both

120 Dionysius the Areopagite,

as Holy of Holies and King of Kings ; and as ruling
eternity and for ever and beyond, and as Lord of
Lords, and God of Gods. And first we must say,
what we think Holiness Itself is ; and what Kingdom,
and what Lordship, and what Divinity, and what
the Oracles wish to denote by the duplication of
the names.

Section II.
Holiness then is (so far as we can say) the purity
free from every pollution, and all perfect, and al-
together unstained; Kingdom is the assignment of
every limit and order, and ordinance and rank ; and
Lordship is not only the superiority over the worse,
but also the perfect possession, in every respect,
of the Beautiful and Good; and a true and un-
swerving stability. Wherefore Lordship is parallel

tO TO KvpOS KOI TO KVpiOV, KOI TO KVpKTTOV h ', and Deity

is the Providence watching over all, and with perfect
goodness both circumscribing and grasping all, and
filling with Itself, and surpassing all things which
enjoy Its forethought.

Section III.
These things, then, must be sung absolutely, re-
specting the Cause surpassing all, and we must
add that It surpasses Holiness, and Lordship, and
Kingdom, and most simplex 1 Deity. For, from It,

h The rendering of which may be, the lordly, and the lord-
lier, and the lordliest.
1 Letter 2.

on Divine Names. 121

individually and collectively, were born and dis-
tributed every untarnished distinctness of every spot-
less purity, the whole arrangement and regulation
of things existing, whilst It excludes want of harmony
and want of equality, and want of symmetry, and
rejoices over the well-ordered identity and rectitude,
and leads round things, deemed worthy to participate
in Itself. From It is all the perfect and complete
possession of all good things, every good fore-
thought, watching and sustaining the objects of Its
forethought, imparting Itself, as befits Its goodness,
for deification of those who are turned to It.

Section IV.

But since the Cause of all is super-full of all, as
beseems the One superfluity which surpasses all, He
is sung as Holy of Holies and the rest, as beseems
an overflowing Cause, and a towering Pre-eminence.
As one might say, so far as the things which are, —
holy or divine, or lordly, or kingly, — surpass the things
which are not, and the self-existent participations,
their participants ; to such an extent is seated above
all things that be, He Who is above all things that
be, and the unparticipating Cause of all the par-
ticipants and the participations. But Holy and
Kings and Lords and Gods, the Oracles call the
higher orders in each, through whom the inferior
in participating the gifts from God, multiply the
simplicity of their distribution around their own
diversities, the variety of which, the superior

122 Dionysius the Areopagite,

orders carefully and divinely collect to their own
Oneness.

CAPUT XIII.
Concerning Perfect and One.
Section I.
So much then on these matters; but let us now
at last, with your good pleasure, approach the most
difficult subject in the whole discourse. For the
Word of God predicates everything, singly and
collectively, respecting the Cause of all, and extols
Him both as Perfect and as One\ He is then
perfect not only as self-perfect, and solitarily sepa-
rated within Himself, by Himself, and throughout
most perfect, but also as super-perfect, as beseems
His pre-eminence over all, and limiting every in-
finitude, and surpassing every term, and by none
contained or comprehended; but even extending
at once to all, and above all, by His unfailing
gratuities and endless energies. But, on the other
hand, He is called perfect, both as without increase,
and always perfect, and as undiminished, as pre-
holding all things in Himself, and overflowing as
beseems one, inexhaustible, and same, and super-full,
and undiminished, abundance, in accordance with
which He perfects all perfect things, and fills them
with His own perfection.

k Kal ws rcXfiov avrb Kal us fv apvfxvet. It should be noted
that where He, Him and His are used in this Section, the
Neuter is used in the Greek.

on Divine Names. 123

Section II.

But One, because He is uniquely all, as beseems
an excess of unique Oneness, and is Cause of all
without departing from the One. For there is no
single existing being, which does not participate
in the one, but as every number participates in an
unit, and one dual and one decade is spoken of,
and one half, and one third and tenth, so everything,
and part of everything participates in the one, and
by the fact that the One is, all existing things are.
And the Cause of all is not One, as one of many,
but before every one and multitude, and determina-
tive of every one and multitude. For there is no
multitude which does not partake in some way
or other of the one. Yea, that which is many by
parts, is one in the whole; and the many by the
accidents, is one by the subject; and the many
by the number or the powers, is one by the species,
and the many by the species, is one by the genus ;
and the many by the progressions, is one by the
source. And there is no single thing which does
not participate in some way in • the one, which
uniformly pre-held in the uniqueness throughout
all, all and whole, all, even the things opposed.
And indeed, without the one there will not be
a multitude, but without the multitude there will
be the one, even as the unit previous to every
multiplied number ; and, if any one should suppose,
that all things are united to all, the All will be one
in the whole.

I2 4 Dionysius the Areopagite^

Section III.
Especially must this be known, that according
to the pre-conceived species of each one, things
united are said to be made one, and the one is
elemental of all; and if you should take away
the one, there will be neither totality nor part,
nor any other single existing thing. For the one,
uniformly, pre-held and comprehended all things
in itself. For this reason, then, the Word of God
celebrates the whole Godhead, as Cause of all, by
the epithet of the One, both one God the Father,
and one Lord Jesus Christ, and one and the same
Spirit, by reason of the surpassing indivisibility of
the whole Divine Oneness, in which all things' are
uniquely collected, and are super-unified, and are
with It superessentially. Wherefore also, all things
are justly referred and attributed to It, by Which
and from Which, and through Which, and in Which,
and to Which, all things are, and are co-ordinated,
and abide, and are held together, and are filled,
and are turned towards It. And you would not
find any existing thing, which is not what it is,
and perfected and preserved, by the One, after which
the whole Deity is superessentially named. And it
is necessary also, that we being turned from the
many to the One, by the power of the Divine One-
ness, should celebrate as One the whole and one
Deity — the one Cause of all — which is before every
one and multitude, and part and whole, and limit
and illimitability, and term and infinity, which bounds
all things that be, even the Being Itself, and is

on Divine Names. 125

uniquely Cause of all, individually and collectively,
and at the same time before all, and above all,
and above the One existing Itself, and bounding
the One existing Itself; since the One existing — that
in things being — is numbered, and number partici-
pates in essence ; but the superessential One bounds
both the One existing, and every number, and Itself
is, of both one and number, and every being, Source
and Cause, and Number and Order. Wherefore also,
whilst celebrated as Unit and Triad, the Deity above
all is neither Unit nor Triad, as understood by us
or by any other sort of being, but, in order that
we may celebrate truly Its super-oneness, and Divine
generation, by the threefold and single name of God,
we name the Deity, Which is inexpressible to things
that be, the Superessential. But no Unit nor Triad,
nor number nor unity, nor productiveness, nor any
other existing thing, or thing known to any existing
thing, brings forth the hiddenness, above every ex-
pression and every mind, of the Super-Deity Which
is above all superessentially. Nor has It a Name,
or expression, but is elevated above in the in-
accessible. And neither do we apply the very Name
of Goodness, as making it adequate to It, but
through a desire of understanding and saying some-
thing concerning that inexpressible nature, we con-
secrate the most august of Names to It, in the first
degree, and although we should be in accord in
this matter with the theologians, yet we shall fall
short of the truth of the facts. Wherefore, even
they have given the preference to the ascent through

i 2 6 Dionysius the Areopagite,

negations, as lifting the soul out of things kindred
to itself, and conducting it through all the Divine
conceptions, above which towers that which is above
every name, and every expression and knowledge,
and at the furthest extremity attaching it to Him,
as far indeed as is possible for us to be attached
to that Being.

Section IV.
We then, having collected these intelligible Divine
Names, have unfolded them to the best of our ability,
falling short not only of the precision which belongs
to them, (for this truly, even Angels might say) nor
only of their praises as sung by Angels (and the chief
of our Theologians come behind the lowest of them),
nor indeed of the Theologians themselves, nor of
their followers or companions, but even of those who
are of the same rank as ourselves, last and sub-
ordinate to them ; so that, if the things spoken should
be correct, and, if we, as far as in us lies, have really
reached the perception of the unfolding of the Divine
Names, let the fact be ascribed to the Author of all
good things, Who, Himself, bestows first the power
to speak, then to speak well. And if any one of the
Names of the same force has been passed over, that
also you must understand according to the same
methods. But, if these things are either incorrect or
imperfect, and we have wandered from the truth,
either wholly or partially, may it be of thy brotherly
kindness to correct him, who unwillingly is ignorant,
and to impart a word to him, who wishes to learn,

on Divine Names. 127

and to vouchsafe assistance to him, who has not
power in himself; and to heal him, who, not wil-
lingly, is sick; and having found out some things
from thyself, and others from others, and receiving all
from the good to transfer them also to us. By no
means grow weary in doing good to a man thy friend,
for thou perceivest, that we also have kept to our-
selves none of the hierarchical communications
transmitted to us, but have transmitted them without
flaw, both to you and to other holy men, yea, and will
continue to transmit them, as we may be sufficient to
speak, and those to whom we speak, to hear, doing
injury in no respect to the tradition, if at least we
do not fail in the conception and expression thereof.
But, let these things be held and spoken in such
way, as is well pleasing to Almighty God ; and
let this indeed be our conclusion to the intelligible
Divine Names. But I will now pass to the Symbolic
Theology 1 ^ with God for my Guide.

1 See letter to Titus.
27 October, 1896.

NOTE.

IGNATIUS.

" My love is crucified."

Upon this passage I differ from all the com-
mentators that I know. I believe the passage to
have been written and inserted in the text by Diony-
sius when writing this letter, which must have been
before a.d. 98. I do not think it a quotation from the
letter of Ignatius written just previous to his martyr-
dom. I think Dionysius quoted some previous writing
of Ignatius, in which he spoke of our Saviour as " My
Love, Which is mine." That is the sense in this
passage, to shew the exalted use of Love. In the
letter of Ignatius to the Romans, he seems to use
" love " in the sense of human passion or fire, and
says that that is crucified in him. In any case, there
is no chronological difficulty. Ignatius was martyred
a.d. 107, Dionysius, a.d. 119.

PREFACE TO MYSTIC
THEOLOGY.

Mystic Theology is like that ladder set up on
the earth whose top reached to Heaven on which
the angels of God were ascending and descending,
and above which stood Almighty God. The Angel
ascending is the "negative" which distinguishes
Almighty God from all created things. God is not
matter — soul, mind, spirit, any being, nor even being
itself, but above and beyond all these. The Angel
descending is the "Affirmative." God is good, wise,
powerful, the Being, until we come to Symbolic
Theology, which denotes Him under material forms
and conditions. Theology prefers the negative be-
cause Almighty God is more appropriately presented
by distinction than by comparison.

MYSTIC THEOLOGY.

CAPUT I.
What is the Divine Gloom ?
Section I.
Triad supernal, both super-God and super-good,
Guardian of the Theosophy of Christian men, direct
us aright to the super-unknown and super-brilliant
and highest summit of the mystic Oracles, where
the simple and absolute and changeless mysteries of
theology lie hidden within the super-luminous gloom
of the silence, revealing hidden things, which in its
deepest darkness shines above the most super-bril-
liant, and in the altogether impalpable and invisible,
fills to overflowing the eyeless minds with glories of
surpassing beauty. This then be my prayer; but
thou, O dear Timothy, by thy persistent commerce
with the mystic visions, leave behind both sensible
perceptions and intellectual efforts, and all objects of
sense and intelligence, and all things not being and
being, and be raised aloft unknowingly to the union,
as far as attainable, with Him Who is above every
essence and knowledge. For by the resistless and
absolute ecstasy in all purity, from thyself and all,
thou wilt be carried on high, to the superessential ray
of the Divine darkness, when thou hast cast away all,
and become free from all.

Dionysius the Areopagite, &>c 131

Section II.
But see that none of the uninitiated listen to these
things — those I mean who are entangled in things
being, and fancy there is nothing superessentially
above things being, but imagine that they know,
by their own knowledge, Him, Who has placed dark-
ness as His hiding-place. But, if the Divine ini-
tiations are above such, what would any one say
respecting those still more uninitiated, such as both
portray the Cause exalted above all, from the lowest
of things created, and say that It in no wise excels
the no-gods fashioned by themselves and of manifold
shapes, it being our duty both to attribute and affirm
all the attributes of things existing to It, as Cause of
all, and more properly to deny them all to It, as
being above all, and not to consider the negations to
be in opposition to the affirmations, but far rather
that It, which is above every abstraction and defi-
nition, is above the privations.

Section III.
Thus, then, the divine Bartholomew says that Theo-
logy is much and least, and the Gospel broad and
great, and on the other hand concise. He seems to me
to have comprehended this supernaturally, that the
good Cause of all is both of much utterance, and at
the same time of briefest utterance and without
utterance; as having neither utterance nor concep-
tion, because It is superessentially exalted above
all, and manifested without veil and in truth, to those
alone who pass through both all things consecrated

! 32 Dionysius the Areopagite,

and pure, and ascend above every ascent of all holy
summits, and leave behind all divine lights and
sounds, and heavenly words, and enter into the gloom,
where really is, as the Oracles say, He Who is beyond
all. For even the divine Moses is himself strictly
bidden to be first purified, and then to be separated
from those who are not so, and after entire cleansing
hears the many-voiced trumpets, and sees many lights,
shedding pure and streaming rays ; then he is separ-
ated from the multitude, and with the chosen priests
goes first to the summit of the divine ascents, al-
though even then he does not meet with Almighty God
Himself, but views not Him (for He is viewless) but
the place where He is. Now this I think signifies
that the most Divine and Highest of the things seen
and contemplated are a sort of suggestive expression
of the things subject to Him Who is above all,
through which His wholly inconceivable Presence is
shown, reaching to the highest spiritual summits of
His most holy places ; and then he (Moses) is freed
from them who are both seen and seeing, and enters
into the gloom of the Agnosia; a gloom veritably
mystic, within which he closes all perceptions of
knowledge and enters into the altogether impalpable
and unseen, being wholly of Him Who is beyond all,
and of none, neither himself nor other; and by in-
activity of all knowledge, united in his better part to
the altogether Unknown, and by knowing nothing,
knowing above mind.

on Mystic Theology. 133

CAPUT II.

How we ought both to be united and render praise
to the Cause of all and above all.

Section I.
We pray to enter within the super-bright gloom,
and through not seeing and not knowing, to see and
to know that the not to see nor to know is itself
the above sight and knowledge. For this is veri-
tably to see and to know and to celebrate super-
essentially the Superessential, through the abstraction
of all existing things, just as those who make a life-
like statue, by extracting all the encumbrances which
have been placed upon the clear view of the con-
cealed, and by bringing to light, by the mere cutting
away*, the genuine beauty concealed in it. And, it is
necessary, as I think, to celebrate the abstractions in
an opposite way to the definitions. For, we used to
place these latter by beginning from the foremost and
descending through the middle to the lowest, but, in
this case, by making the ascents from the lowest to
the highest, we abstract everything, in order that,
without veil, we may know that Agnosia, which is
enshrouded under all the known, in all things that
be, and may see that superessential gloom, which is
hidden by all the light in existing things.

■ i.e. the abstraction.

*34

Diony sius the Areopagiie,

CAPUT III.

What are the affirmative expressions respecting God,

and what the negative.

Section I.
In the Theological Outlines, then, we celebrated the
principal affirmative expressions respecting God-
how the Divine and good Nature is spoken of as
One— how as Threefold— what is that within it which
is spoken of as Paternity and Sonship— what the
Divine name of "the Spirit" is meant to signify-
how from the immaterial and indivisible Good the
Lights dwelling in the heart of Goodness sprang forth,
and remained, in their branching forth, without de-
parting from the coeternal abiding in Himself and
in Themselves and in each other —how the super-
essential Jesus takes substance in veritable human
nature -and whatever other things, made known by
the Oracles, are celebrated throughout the Theological
Outlines; and in the treatise concerning Divine
Names, how He is named Good— how Being— how
Life and Wisdom and Power— and whatever else
belongs to the nomenclature of God. Further, in the
~ Symbolical Theology, what are the Names transferred
from objects of sense to things Divine?— what are
the Divine forms?— what the Divine appearances,
and parts and organs?— what the Divine places and
ornaments?— what the angers?— what the griefs?—
and the Divine wrath?— what the carousals, and the
ensuing sicknesses ?— what the oaths,— and what the

on Mystic Theology. 135

curses? — what the sleepings, and what the awak-
ings ? — and all the other Divinely formed representa-
tions, which belong to the description of God,
through symbols. And I imagine that you have
comprehended, how the lowest are expressed in some-
what more words than the first For, it was necessary
that the Theological Outlines, and the unfolding of the
Divine Names should be expressed in fewer words
than the Symbolic Theology ; since, in proportion as
we ascend to the higher, in such a degree the ex-
pressions are circumscribed by the contemplations of
the things intelligible. As even now, when entering
into the gloom which is above mind, we shall find, not
a little speaking, but a complete absence of speech,
and absence of conception. In the other case, the
discourse, in descending from the above to the lowest,
is widened according to the descent, to a propor-
tionate extent; but now, in ascending from below to
that which is above, in proportion to the ascent, it
is contracted, and after a complete ascent, it will
become wholly voiceless, and will be wholly united
to the unutterable. But, for what reason in short,
you say, having attributed the Divine attributes from
the foremost, do we begin the Divine abstraction
from things lowest? Because it is necessary that
they who place attributes on that which is above
every attribute, should place the attributive affirma-
tion from that which is more cognate to it ; but that
they who abstract, with regard to that which is above
every abstraction, should make the abstraction from
things which are further removed from it. Are not

136

Dionysius the Areopagite,

life and goodness more (cognate) than air and stone?
and He is not given to debauch and to wrath, more
(removed) than He is not expressed nor conceived.

CAPUT IV.

That the pre-eminent Cause of every object of sensible
perception is none of the objects of sensible perception.
Section I.
We say then that the Cause of all, which is above
all, is neither without being, nor without life— nor with-
out reason, nor without mind, nor is a body — nor has
shape— nor form— nor quality, or quantity, or bulk—
nor is in a place — nor is seen — nor has sensible con-
tact—nor perceives, nor is perceived, by the senses —
nor has disorder and confusion, as being vexed by
earthly passions,— nor is powerless, as being subject
to casualties of sense,— nor is in need of light;—
neither is It, nor has It, change, or decay, or divi-
sion, or deprivation, or flux,— or any other of the
objects of sense.

CAPUT V.

That the pre-eminent Cause of every object of intelligible
perception is no fie of the objects of intelligible percep-
tion.

On the other hand, ascending, we say, that It
is neither soul, nor mind, nor has imagination, or
opinion, or reason, or conception; neither is ex-

on Mystic Theology. 137

pressed, nor conceived ; neither is number, nor order,
nor greatness, nor littleness; nor equality, nor in-
equality ; nor similarity, nor dissimilarity ; neither is
standing, nor moving; nor at rest; neither has
power, nor is power, nor light ; neither lives, nor is
life ; neither is essence nor eternity, nor time ; nei-
ther is Its touch intelligible, neither is It science, nor
truth ; nor kingdom, nor wisdom ; neither one, nor
oneness ; neither Deity, nor Goodness ; nor is It Spirit
according to our understanding; nor Sonship, nor
Paternity ; nor any other thing of those known to us,
or to any other existing being ; neither is It any of
non-existing nor of existing things, nor do things
existing know It, as It is; nor does It know existing
things, qua existing ; neither is there expression of It,
nor name, nor knowledge ; neither is It darkness, nor
light; nor error, nor truth; neither is there any
definition at all of It, nor any abstraction. But when
making the predications and abstractions of things
after It, we neither predicate, nor abstract from It ;
since the all-perfect and uniform Cause of all is both
above every definition and the pre-eminence of Him,
Who is absolutely freed from all, and beyond the
whole, is also above every abstraction.

PREFACE TO THE LETTERS

OF DIONYSIUS THE

AREOPAGITE.

These Letters attest the existence of the writings,
and the wisdom spoken among the perfect, in the
Apostolic Age. — To Gaius, who is commemorated
by St. John and St. Paul, we owe the explanation
of Agnosia, and valued teaching on the Personality
of our Lord; to Dorotheus we are indebted for
a fuller explanation of the Divine Gloom ; to Sosi-
pater, twice mentioned in the Acts and Romans,
we owe the wisest letter ever penned for the in-
struction of the Christian Apologist and Missionary.
The Letter to Polycarp touches on those mysterious
signs in the heavens, by which Almighty God shewed
His universal power. Dionysius shews his reverence
for God's holy word, by never seeking to explain
away, or to substitute what seems a less miracle for
a greater. The trifold Mithra commemorated amongst
the Babylonians shews that Hezekiah's sign was not
merely visible and observed in Judea. The King,
as High Priest of his people, was already robed for
evening prayer, when he observed the sun gone
back ; and one day became almost three, i.e. thirty-
two hours instead of thirty-six. Dionysius describes
the darkness at the time of the Crucifixion, as it

140 PREFACE TO THE LETTERS, ETC.

appeared in Egypt, and is recorded by Phlegon.
We do not explain and interpret the facts recorded
in the Gospel, by denying them, or by treating the
same testimony outside the Gospel as superstitious.

To Demophilus, we owe a knowledge of Church-
law and order, which teaches the Christian duty
of being " sent," and which should teach clergy to
obey their Bishop, and not merely the Act of uni-
formity. To Titus, we owe the preservation of the
sum of the Symbolic Theology. From the letter to
St. John in Patmos, we learn the love between
St. John and Dionysius, and that St. John was then
called the "Sun of the Gospel." From the letter
to Apollophanes, we know that the prayers of Diony-
sius for the conversion of his friend did not fall
to the ground. Apollophanes was tutor to Polemon,
who again was tutor to Aristides, who presented
his "Apology" to the Emperor Hadrian. The
conversion of Statonice, the wife of Apollophanes,
was the cause of St. Paul's being cast into chains
at Philippi, where the messengers from Corinth found
him, through whom he sent the Epistle recently
brought to light a .

* See "Correspondence of St. Paul," Carriere et Berger,
p. 20. Fishbacher, Paris.

Cannes,
Ciratmcision, 1897.

LETTERS OF DIONYSIUS
THE AREOPAGITE.

LETTER I.

To Gains Therapeutes.
Darkness becomes invisible by light, and specially
by much light. Varied knowledge (al yvdxreis), and
especially much varied knowledge, makes the Ag-
nosia* to vanish. Take this in a superlative, but
not in a defective sense, and reply with superla-
tive truth, that the Agnosia, respecting God, escapes
those who possess existing light, and knowledge
of things being; and His pre-eminent darkness is
both concealed by every light, and is hidden from
every knowledge. And, if any one, having seen
God, understood what he saw, he did not see Him,
but some of His creatures that are existing and
known. But He Himself, highly established above
mind, and above essence, by the very fact of His
being wholly unknown, and not being, both is super-
essentially, and is known above mind. And the
all-perfect Agnosia, in its superior sense, is a know-
ledge of Him, Who is above all known things.

LETTER II.

To the same Gains Therapeutes.
How is He, Who is beyond all b , both above source
of Divinity and above source of Good ? Provided you
* C. I. § i. b C. II. § 6.

142 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

understand Deity and Goodness, as the very Actuality
of the Good-making and God-making gift, and the
inimitable imitation of the super-divine and super-
good (gift), by aid of which we are deified and
made good. For, moreover, if this becomes source
of the deification and making good of those who
are being deified and made good, He, — Who is super-
source of every source, even of the so-called Deity
and Goodness, seeing He is beyond source of Divinity
and source of Goodness, in so far as He is in-
imitable, and not to be retained— excels the imita-
tions and retentions, and the things which are
imitated and those participating.

LETTER III.
To the same Gains.
" Sudden " is that which, contrary to expectation,
and out of the, as yet, unmanifest, is brought into the
manifest. But with regard to Christ's love of man,
I think that the Word of God suggests even this,
that the Superessential proceeded forth out of the
hidden, into the manifestation amongst us, by having
taken substance as man. But, He is hidden, even
after the manifestation, or to speak more divinely,
even in the manifestation, for in truth this of Jesus
has been kept hidden, and the mystery with respect
to Him has been reached by no word nor mind,
but even when spoken, remains unsaid, and when
conceived unknown.

Letters of Dionysins the Areopagite. 143

LETTER IV. c

To the same Gains Therapeutes.

How, you ask, is Jesus, Who is beyond all, ranked
essentially with all men ? For, not as Author of
men is He here called man, but as being in absolute
whole essence truly man. But we do not define
the Lord Jesus, humanly, for He is not man only,
(neither superessential nor man only), but truly man,
He Who is pre-eminently a lover of man, the Super-
essential, taking substance, above men and after
men, from the substance of men. And it is nothing
less, the ever Superessential, super-full of super-
essentiality y disregards the excess d of this, and having
come truly into substance, took substance above
substance, and above man works things of man.
And a virgin supernaturally conceiving, and un-
stable water, holding up weight of material and
earthly feet, and not giving way, but, by a super-
natural power standing together so as not to be
divided, demonstrate this. Why should any one
go through the rest, which are very many ? Through
which, he who looks with a divine vision, will know
beyond mind, even the things affirmed respecting
the love towards man, of (the Lord) Jesus, — things
which possess a force of superlative negation. For,
even, to speak summarily, He was not man, not as
not being man, but as being from men was beyond
men, and was above man, having truly been born
man, and for the rest, not having done things Divine

c C. II. § 6.

144 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

as God, nor things human as man, but exercising
for us a certain new God-incarnate energy of God
having become man.

LETTER V.
To Dorotheus, Leitourgos.
The Divine gloom is the unapproachable light
in which God is said to dwell e . And in this gloom,
invisible f indeed, on account of the surpassing bright-
ness, and unapproachable on account of the excess
of the superessential stream of light, enters every one
deemed worthy to know and to see God, by the very
fact of neither seeing nor knowing, really entering
in Him, Who is above vision and knowledge, knowing
this very thing, that He is after all the object of
sensible and intelligent perception, and saying in the
words of the Prophet, " Thy knowledge was regarded
as wonderful by me ; It was confirmed ; I can by no
means attain unto it s j " even as the Divine Paul is
said to have known Almighty God, by having known
Him as being above all conception and knowledge.
Wherefore also, he says, " His ways are past finding
out h and His Judgements inscrutable," and His gifts
" indescribable l ," and that His peace surpasses every
mind j , as having found Him Who is above all,
and having known this which is above conception,
that, by being Cause of all, He is beyond all.

e i Tim. vi. 6. £ lb. i. 17. * Ps. cxxxix. 6.

h Rom. xi. 33. l 2 Cor. ix. 15. * Phil. iv. 7.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 145

LETTER VI.

To Sopatros^ — Priest.

Do not imagine this a victory, holy Sopatros, to
have denounced l a devotion, or an opinion, which ap-
parently is not good. For neither — even if you should
have convicted it accurately — are the (teachings) of
Sopatros consequently good. For it is possible, both
that you and others, whilst occupied in many things
that are false and apparent, should overlook the true,
which is One and hidden. For neither, if anything
is not red, is it therefore white, nor if something
is not a horse, is it necessarily a man. But thus will
you do, if you follow my advice, you will cease in-
deed to speak against others, but will so speak on
behalf of truth, that every thing said is altogether
unquestionable.

LETTER VII.

Section I.

To Poly carp — Hierarch.

I, at any rate, am not conscious, when speaking

in reply to Cxreeks or others, of fancying to assist

good men, in case they should be able to know and

speak the very truth, as it really is in itself. For, when

this is correctly demonstrated in its essential nature,

according to a law of truth, and has been established

without flaw, every thing which is otherwise, and

simulates the truth, will be convicted of being other

k Acts xx. 4; Rom. xvi. 21. 1 Tit. iii. 9.

L

146 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

than the reality, and dissimilar, and that which is
seeming rather than real. It is superfluous then,
that the expounder of truth should contend with
these or those™. For each affirms himself to have
the royal coin, and perchance has some deceptive
image of a certain portion of the true. And, if you
refute this, first the one, and then the other, will
contend concerning the same. But, when the true
statement itself has been correctly laid down, and
has remained unrefuted by all the rest, every thing
which is not so in every respect is cast down of
itself, by the impregnable stability of the really true.
Having then as I think well understood this, I have
not been over zealous to speak in reply to Greeks or
to others ; but it is sufficient for roe (and may God
grant this), first to know about truth, then, having
known, to speak as it is fitting to speak.

Section II.
But you say, the Sophist Apollophanes rails at me,
and calls me parricide, as using, not piously, the
writings of Greeks against the Greeks. Yet, in reply
to him, it were more true for us to say, that Greeks
use, not piously, things Divine against things Divine,
attempting through the wisdom of Almighty God to
eject the Divine Worship. And I am not speaking of
the opinion of the multitude, who cling tenaciously
to the writings of the poets, with earthly and im-
passioned proclivities, and worship the creature 11
rather than the Creator; but even Apollophanes
■ Greeks or others. n I Cor. ii. 7.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 147

himself uses not piously things Divine against things
Divine ; for by the knowledge of things created, well
called Philosophy by him, and by the divine Paul
named Wisdom of God, the true philosophers ought
to have been elevated to the Cause of things created
and of the knowledge of them. And in order that
he may not improperly impute to me the opinion
of others, or that of himself, Apollophanes, being
a wise man, ought to recognise that nothing could
otherwise be removed from its heavenly course and
movement, if it had not the Sustainer and Cause of
its being moving it thereto, who forms all things,
and " transforms them ° " according to the sacred text.
How then does he not worship Him, known to us
even from this, and verily being God of the whole,
admiring Him for His all causative and super-in-
expressible power, when sunP and moon, together
with the universe, by a power and stability most
supernatural, were fixed by them to entire immobility,
and, for a measure of a whole day, all the constellations
stood in the same places ; or (which is greater than
even this), if when the whole and the greater and
embracing were thus carried along, those embraced
did not follow in their course ; and when a certain
other dayi was almost tripled in duration, even in
twenty whole hours, either the universe retraced
contrary routes for so long a time, and (was)

Dan. ii. 21. See note, p. 184.

v Joshua x. 12 — 14 ; Eccl. xlvi. 4 ; Isaiah xxviii. 21.

q Of twelve hours : 2 Kings xx. 9 — 11 ; Isaiah xxxviii. 8.

148 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

turned back by the thus very most supernatural
backward revolutions; or the sun, in its own
course, having contracted its five-fold motion in
ten hours, retrogressively again retraced it in the
other ten hours, by traversing a sort of new route.
This thing indeed naturally astounded even Baby-
lonians r , and, without battle, brought them into
subjection to Hezekiah, as though he were a some-
body equal to God, and superior to ordinary men.
And, by no means do I allege the great works in
Egypt 8 , or certain other Divine portents, which took
place elsewhere, but the well-known and celestial
ones, which were renowned in every place and by all
persons. But Apollophanes is ever saying that these
things are not true. At any rate then, this is re-
ported by the Persian sacerdotal legends, and to
this day, Magi celebrate the memorials of the three-
fold Mithrus K But let him disbelieve these things,
by reason of his ignorance or his inexperience. Say
to him, however, "What do you affirm concerning
the eclipse, which took place at the time of the
saving Cross*?" For both of us at that time, at
Heliopolis, being present, and standing together,
saw the moon approaching the sun, to our surprise
(for it was not appointed time for conjunction);
and again, from the ninth hour to the evening,
supernaturally placed back again into a line opposite

r Isaiah xxxix. I ; 2 Kings xx. 12 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 31.
8 Ex. vii. 14. * See Dulac. u Mark xv. 33; Luke

xxiii. 44.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 149

the sun. And remind him also of something further.
For he knows that we saw, to our surprise, the con-
tact itself beginning from the east, and going towards
the edge of the sun's disc, then receding back, and
again, both the contact and the re-clearing v , not taking
place from the same point, but from that diametri-
cally opposite. So great are the supernatural things
of that appointed time, and possible to Christ alone,
the Cause of all, Who worketh great things and
marvellous, of which there is not number.

Section III.
These things say, if occasion serves, and if possi-
ble, O Apollophanes, refute them, and to- me, who
was then both present with thee, and saw and
judged and wondered with thee at them all. And
in truth Apollophanes begins prophesying at that
time, I know not whence, and to me he said,
as if conjecturing the things taking place, " these
things, O excellent Dionysius, are requitals of Divine
deeds." Let so much be said by us by letter; but
you are capable, both to supply the deficiency, and
to bring eventually to God that distinguished man,
who is wise in many things, and who perhaps will
not disdain to meekly learn the truth, which is above
wisdom, of our religion.

* The contact or adumbration refers to the moon, the
re-clearing to the sun. See notes on this letter in Ant. Ed.
and Schema, p. 258, vol. 2.

1 5 o Litters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

LETTER VIII.

To Demophilus, Therapeutes.

About minding one's own business, and kindness.
Section I.

The histories of the Hebrews say, O noble De-
mophilus, that even that holy, distinguished Moses
was deemed worthy of the Divine manifestation on
account of his great meekness w . And, if at any
time they describe him as being excluded from the
vision x of God, they do not cast him out from God
for his meekness. But they say that when speaking
very rashly, and opposing the Divine Counsels,
Jehovah was angry with him with wrath. But when
they make him proclaimed by his God-discerned
deserts, he is proclaimed, from his pre-eminent
imitation of the Good. For he was very meek,
and on this account is called "Servant of God,"
and deemed more fit for vision of God than all
Prophets. Now, when certain envious y people were
contending with him and Aaron, about the High
Priesthood and government of the tribes, he was
superior to all love of honour, and love of rule,
and referred the presidency over the people to the
Divine judgment. And, when they even rose up
against him, and reproaching him concerning the
precedency, were threatening him, and were already
almost upon him, the meek man invoked the Good
for preservation, but very suitably asserted that

• Num. xii. 3-8. x Ex. iv. 14. y Num. xvi. i-u.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 1 5 1

he would be guiltless of all evils to the governed.
For he knew that it is necessary, that the familiar
with God the Good should be moulded, as far as
is attainable, to that which is specially most like
the Good, and should be conscious within himself
of the performance of deeds of good friendship.
And what made David z , the father of God, a friend
of God ? Even for being good and generous towards
enemies a . The Super-Good, and the Friend of Good
sa y S — « 1 have found a man after mine own heart."
Further also, a generous injunction was given, to
care for even one's enemy's beasts of burden b . And
Job c was pronounced just, as being free from injury.
And Joseph d did not take revenge upon the brethren
who had plotted against him ; and Abel, at once,
and without suspicion, accompanied the fratricide.
And the Word of God proclaims all the good as
not devising evil things e , not doing them f , but
neither being changed from the good, by the base-
ness of others s, but, on the contrary, after the ex-
ample of God h , as doing good to, and throwing their
shield over the evil; and generously calling them
to their own abundant goodness, and to their own
similitude. But let us ascend higher, not proclaiming
the gentleness of holy men, nor kindness of philan-
thropic angels, who take compassion upon nations,
and invoke good 1 on their behalf, and punish the

z Matt. i. I — 16. a I Sam. xxiv. 7, xiii. 14. b Ex. xxiii. 4.

c Job i. 8. d Gen. 1. 21. e I Cor. xiii. 5.

i Ps. xv. 3. b Rom. xii. 21. h Matt. v. 45.

1 Zech. i. 12.

1 5 2 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

destructive and devastating mobs, and, whilst being
grieved over calamities, yet rejoice over the safety
of those who are being called back to things good k ;
nor whatever else the Word of God teaches concern-
ing the beneficent angels ! ; but, whilst in silence wel-
coming the beneficent rays of the really good and
super-good Christ, by them let us be lighted on our
path, to His Divine works of Goodness. For as-
suredly is it not of a Goodness inexpressible and
beyond conception, that He makes all things existing
to be, and brought all things themselves to being,
and wishes all things ever to become near to Himself,
and participants of Himself, according to the apti-
tude of each ? And why ? Because He clings lovingly
to those who even depart from Him, and strives 01 and
beseeches not to be disowned by those beloved who
are themselves coy; and He bears with those who
heedlessly reproach Him n , and Himself makes
excuse for them, and further promises to serve
them, and runs towards and meets even those
who hold themselves aloof, immediately that they
approach j and when His entire self has embraced
their entire selves, He kisses them, and does not
reproach them for former things, but rejoices over
the present, and holds a feast, and calls together
the friends, that is to say, the good, in order that
the household may be altogether rejoicing. (But,
Demophilus, of all persons in the world, is at enmity

k Luke xv. 7. ! Ps. xci. II. m Matt. vi. 19.

n Luke xxiii. 34. ° lb. xv. 20.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 153

with, and very justly rebukes, and teaches beautiful
things to, good men, and rejoices.) " For how," He
says, " ought not the good to rejoice over safety of
the lost, and over life of those who are dead." And,
as a matter of course, He raises upon His shoulders
that which with difficulty has been turned from error,
and summons the good angels to rejoicing, and
is generous to the unthankful, and makes His sun
to rise upon evil and good, and presents His very
soul p as an offering on behalf of those who are
fleeing from Him.

But thou, as thy letters testify, I do not know how,
being in thy senses, hast spurned one fallen down
before the priest, who, as thou sayest, was unholy and
a sinner. Then this one entreated and confessed
that he has come for healing of evil deeds, but thou
didst not shiver, but even insolently didst cover with
abuse the good priest, for shewing compassion to
a penitent, and justifying the unholy. And at last,
thou saidst to the priest, " Go out with thy like " ;
and didst burst, contrary to permission, into the
sanctuary, and defiledst the Holy of holies, and writest
to us, that " I have providentially preserved the things
sacred, which were about to be profaned, and am
still keeping them undented."

Now, then, hear our view. It is not lawful that
a priest should be corrected by the Leitourgoi, who
are above thee, or by the Therapeutae, who are of the
same rank with thee ; even though he should seem to

p 1 John 10, 11.

154 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

act irreverently towards things Divine, and though he
should be convicted of having done some other thing
forbidden. For, if want of order, and want of regu-
lation, is a departure from the most Divine insti-
tutions and decrees, it is not reasonable that the
divinely transmitted order should be changed on
God's behalf. For Almighty God is not divided
against Himself, for, "how then shall His kingdom
stand*?" And if the judgment is of God, as the
Oracles affirm r , and the priests are angels and inter-
preters, after the hierarchs, of the Divine judgments,
learn from them through whom thou wast deemed
worthy to be a Therapeutes, through the intermediate
Leitourgoi, when opportunity serves, the things Divine
suitable for thyself 8 . And do not the Divine Symbols
proclaim this, for is not the Holy of holies altogether
simply separated from all, and the order of the con-
secrators is in closer proximity to it than the rank of
the priests, and following these, that of the Leitourgoi.
But the gates of the sanctuary are bounded by the
appointed Therapeutae, within which they are both
ordained, and around which they stand, not to
guard them, but for order, and teaching of themselves
that they are nearer the people than the priesthood.
Whence the holy regulation of the priests orders
them to participate in things Divine, enjoining the
impartation of these to others, that is to say, the
more inward. For even those who always stand

* Matt. xii. 26. r Is. xxx. 18.

■ Ec. Hier. c. 6. part 2.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 155

around the Divine Altar, for a symbolical purpose, see
and hear things Divine revealed to themselves in all
clearness ; and advancing generously to things out-
side the Divine Veils, they shew, to the subject Thera-
peutae, and to the holy people, and to the orders
under purification, according to their meetness, things
holy which had been beautifully guarded without pol-
lution, until thou didst tyrannically burst into them,
and compelledst the Holy of holies, against its will, to
be strutted over by thee, and thou sayest, that thou
holdest and guardest the sacred things, although thou
neither hast known, nor heard,, nor possessest any of
the things belonging to the priests ; as neither hast
thou known, the truth of the Oracles, whilst cavilling
about them each day to subversion of the hearers.
And even if some civil Governor undertook what was
not commanded him by a King, justly would any one
of the subordinates standing by be punished who
dared to criticise the Governor, when justifying, or
condemning any one; (for I do not go so far as to say
to vituperate), and at the same time thought to cast
him from his government ; but thou, man, art thus rash
in what concerns the affairs of the meek and good,
and his hierarchical jurisdiction. We are bound to
say these things, when any one undertakes what is
above his rank y and at the same time thinks that he
acts properly.. For this is not within the powers of
any one. For. what was O^ias 4 doing out of place,
when offering incense to Almighty God ? and what
Saul u in sacrificing ?

2 Chron. xxvi. 16—19. u l Sam « xiii - l 9*

156 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

Yea, further, what were those domineering de-
mons x , who were truly proclaiming the Lord Jesus
God ? But every one who meddles with other people's
business, is outlawed by the Word of God ; and each
one shall be in the rank of his own service, and alone
the High Priest * shall enter into the Holy of holies,
and once only throughout the year*, and this in the
full legal hierarchical purification a . And the priests h
encompass the holy things, and the Levites must
not touch the holy things, lest they die. And Je-
hovah was angry with wrath at the rashness of Ozias,
and Mariam c becomes leprous, because she had
presumed to lay down laws for the lawgiver. And
the demons fastened on the sons of Sceva, and He
says, " I did not send them, yet they ran, and I spake
not to them yt they prophesied d ." "And the
profane e who sacrifices to me a calf, (is) as he who
slays a dog," and to speak briefly, the all-perfect
justice of Almighty God does not tolerate the dis-
regarded of law, but whilst they are saying " in Thy f
Name, we ourselves did many wonderful works," He
retorts, " And I know you not j go from Me all ye
workers of lawlessness." So that it is not per-
missible, as the holy Oracles say, even to pursue
things that are just, when not according to order «,
but each must keep to himself h , and not meditate
things too high and too deep for him 1 , but con-

* Mark iii. II. * Lev. xyi, 2. * Ex. xxx. 10.
■ lb. xix. 21. b Num. iv. 15. c lb. xii. 10.

d Jen xxiii. 21. e Is. xlvi. 3. f Matt. vii. 23.

* Deut. xvi. 20. b 1 Tim. iv. 16. * Rom. xii. 3—6.

Letters of Dionysius the Areofiagite. 157

template alone things prescribed for him according
to order.

Section II.

"What then," thou sayest, "is it not necessary to
correct the priests who are acting irreverently, or con-
victed of something else out of place, but to those
only, who glory in law, shall it be permitted to dis-
honour Almighty God k , through the transgression of
the Law ? " And how are the priests interpreters x of
Almighty God ? For, how do they announce to the
people the Divine virtues, who do not know the
power of them ? or how do they, who are in dark-
ness m , communicate light? Further, how do they
impart the Divine Spirit, who, by habit and truth do
not believe whether there is a Holy Spirit n ? Now I
will give thee an answer to these things. For truly my
Demophilus is not an enemy,, nor will I tolerate that
thou shouldst be overreached by Satan.

For each rank of those about God, is more god-
like than that which stands further away. And those
which are somewhat nearer to the true light, are at
once more luminous, and more illuminating ; and do
not understand the nearness topically, but according
to God-receptive aptitude. If, then, the order of the
priests is the illuminating, entirely has he fallen from
the priestly rank and power, who does not illuminate,
or perhaps rather (he becomes) the unilluminated.

k Rom. ii. 23. x Mai. ii. 7. m Eph. iv. 18.

n Acts xix. 2.

1 5 8 'Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

And he seems, to me at least, rash who, being such,
undertakes the priestly functions, and has no fear,
and does not blush, when performing things Divine,
contrary to propriety, and fancying that God does
not know the very things of which he is conscious in
himself, and thinks to mislead Him Who is falsely
called by him Father, and presumes to repeat his
cursed blasphemies (for I would not say prayers) over
the Divine symbols, after the example of Christ.
This one is not a priest— No !— but devilish— crafty
—a deceiver of himself— and a wolf to the people of
God, clothed in sheep's clothing.

Section III.

But, it is not to Demophilus that it is permitted

to put these things straight. For, if the Word of

God commands to pursue just things justly (but

to pursue just things is, when any one wishes to

distribute to each one things that are meet), this

must be pursued by all justly, not beyond their own

meetness or rankP; since even to angels it is just

that things meet be assigned and apportioned, but not

from us, O Demophilus, but through them to us, of

God, and to them through the angels who are still

more pre-eminent. And to speak shortly, amongst

all existing things their due is assigned through the

first to the second, by the well-ordered and most

just forethought of all. Let those, then, who have

been ordered by God to superintend others, dis-

o Deut. xvi. 20. p 2 Cor - xiii « Ia

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 159

tribute after themselves their due to their in-
feriors. But, let Demophilus apportion their due
to reason and anger and passion ; and let him not
maltreat the regulation of himself, but let the superior
reason bear rule over things inferior. For, if one
were to see, in the market-place, a servant abusing
a master, and a younger man, an elder ; or also a son,
a father; and in addition attacking and inflicting
wounds, we should seem even to fail in reverence if
we did not run and succour the superior, even though
perhaps they were first guilty of injustice ; how then
shall we not blush, when we see reason maltreated by
anger and passion, and cast out of the sovereignty
given by God ; and when we raise in our own selves
an irreverent and unjust disorder, and insurrection
and confusion? Naturally, our blessed Law-giver
from God does not deem right that one should
preside over the Chufch of God, who has not .already
well presided over his own house q . For, he who has
governed himself will also govern another ; and who,
another, will also govern a house ; and who, a house,
also a city ; and who, a city, also a nation. And
to speak briefly as the Oracles affirm, "he who is
faithful in little, is faithful also in much," and "he
who is unfaithful in little, is unfaithful also in
much."

Section IV.

Thyself, then, assign their due limit to passion and
anger and reason. And to thyself, let the divine

* 1 Tim. iii. 5.

160 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

Leitourgoi assign the due limit, and to these, the
priests, and to the priests, hierarchs, and to the
hierarchs, the Apostles and the successors of the
Apostles. And if, perchance, any, even among these,
should have failed in what is becoming, he shall
be put right by the holy men of the same rank;
and rank shall not be turned against rank, but
each shall be in his own rank, and in his own
service. So much for thee, from us, on behalf of
knowing and doing one's own business. But, con-
cerning the inhuman treatment towards that man,
whom thou callest " irreverent and sinner," I know
not how I shall bewail the scandal of my beloved.
For, of whom dost thou suppose thou wast or-
dained Therapeutes by us? For if it were not of
the Good, it is necessary that thou shouldst be
altogether alien from Him and from us, and from
our whole religion, and it is time for thee both to
seek a God, and other priests, and amongst them
to become brutal rather than perfected, and to be
a cruel minister of thine own fierceness. For,
have we ourselves, forsooth, been perfected to the
altogether Good, and have no need of the divine
compassion for ourselves r , or do we commit the
double sin 8 , as the Oracles say, after the example
of the unholy, not knowing in what we offend,
but even justifying ourselves and supposing we see,
whilst really not seeing 1 ? Heaven was startled at
this, and I shivered, and I distrust myself. And

r Luke xvi. 10. » Jer. ii. 13—35. * Rom. i. 27.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 161

unless I had met with thy letters (as know well
I would I had not), they would not have persuaded
me if indeed any other had thought good to persuade
me concerning thee, that Demophilus supposes, that
Almighty God, Who is good to all, is not also compas-
sionate towards men, and that he himself has no need
of the Merciful or the Saviour u ; yea further, he de-
poses those priests who are deemed worthy, through
clemency, to bear the ignorances x of the people, and
who well know, that they also are compassed with
infirmity y. But, the supremely Divine Priest pur-
sued a different (course), and that as the Oracles
say, from being separate 2 of sinners, and makes
the most gentle tending of the sheep a a proof of
the love towards Himself; and He stigmatizes as
wicked b , him who did not forgive his fellow-servant
the debt, nor impart a portion of that manifold
goodness, graciously given to himself ; and He con-
demns him to enjoy his own deserts, which both
myself and Demophilus must take care to avoid.
For, even for those who were treating Him impiously,
at the very time of His suffering, He invokes re-
mission from the Father ; and He rebukes even the
disciples, because without mercy they thought it right
to convict of impiety the Samaritans who drove Him
away. This, indeed, is the thousand times repeated
theme of thy impudent letter (for thou repeatest the
same from beginning to end), that thou hast avenged,

" Heb. vii. 27. * lb. ix. 7. r lb. vii. 28.

z lb. 26. a John xxi. 15 — 17. b Matt, xviii. 32.

c Luke xviii. 34.

M

162 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

not thyself, but Almighty God. Tell me (<}ost thou
avenge) the Good by means of evil ?
Section V.
Avaunt! We have not a High Priest, "Who can-
not be touched with our infirmities, but is both
without sin and merciful." "He shall not strive
nor cry, and is Himself meek, and Himself pro-
pitiatory for our sins ; so that we will not approve
your unenviable attacks, not if you should allege
a thousand times your Phineas and your Elias. For,
when the Lord Jesus heard these things, He was
displeased with the disciples, who at that time
lacked the meek and good spirit. For, even our
most divine preceptor d teaches in meekness those
who opposed themselves to the teaching of Almighty
God. For, we must teach, not avenge ourselves
upon, the ignorant, as we do not punish the blind,
but rather lead them by the hand. But thou, after
striking him on the cheek, rushest upon that man,
who is beginning to rise to the truth, and when he
is approaching with much modesty, thou insolently
kickest him away (certainly, this is enough to make
one shudder), whom the Lord Christ, as being good,
seeks, when wandering upon the mountains, and calls
to Him, when fleeing from Him, and when, with
difficulty, found, places upon His shoulders. Do
not, I pray, do not let us thus injuriously counsel
for ourselves, nor drive the sword e against ourselves.
For they, who undertake to injure f any one, or on

i 2 Tim. ii. 24. • Matt. xxvi. 51-2. f lb. vi. 28.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 163

the contrary to do them good, do not always effect
what they wish, but for themselves, when they have
brought into their house s vice or virtue, will be filled
either with Divine virtues, or ungovernable passions.
And these indeed, as followers and companions of
good angels h , both here and there, with all peace and
freedom from all evil, will inherit the most blessed
inheritances for the ever-continuing age, and will
be ever with God, the greatest of all blessings 1 ;
but, the other will fall both from the divine and
their own peace, and here, and after death, will
be companions with cruel demons k . For which
reason, we have an earnest desire to become com-
panions of God 1 , the Good, and to be ever with the
Lord, and not to be separated, along with the evil,
from the most Just One, whilst undergoing that which
is due from ourselves, which I fear most of all, and
pray to have no share in anything evil. And, with
your permission, I will mention a divine vision of
a certain holy man, and do not laugh, for I am
speaking true.

Section VI.
When I was once in Crete, the holy Carpus m
entertained me, — a man, of all others, most fitted,
on account of great purity of mind, for Divine Vision.
Now, he never undertook the holy celebrations of
the Mysteries, unless a propitious vision were first
manifested to him during his preparatory devout

s Eph. ii. 20. h Ps. xci. II. * lb. lxxiii. 28.

k Jer. vi. 14. x 1 Thess. iv. 13. m 2 Tim. iv. 13.

1 64 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

prayers. He said then, when some one of the
unbelievers had at one time grieved him (and his
grief was, that he had led astray to ungodliness
a certain member of the Church, whilst the days of
rejoicing were still being celebrated for him) ; that
he ought compassionately to have prayed on behalf
of both, and taking God, the Saviour, as his fellow-
helper, to convert the one, and to overcome the
other by goodness , and not to have ceased warning
them so long as he lived until this day; and thus
to lead them to the knowledge of God, so that the
things disputed by them might be clearly determined,
and those, who were irrationally bold, might be com-
pelled to be wiser by a judgment according to law.
Now, as he had never before experienced this, I do
not know how he then went to bed with such a
surfeit of ill-will and bitterness. In this evil con-
dition he went to sleep, for it was evening, and
at midnight (for he was accustomed at that appointed
hour to rise, of his own accord, for the Divine
melodies) he arose, not having enjoyed, undis-
turbed, his slumbers, which were many and con-
tinually broken ; and, when he stood collected for
the Divine Converse, he was guiltily vexed and
displeased, saying, that it was not just that godless
men, who pervert the straight ways of the Lord,
should live. And, whilst saying this, he besought
Almighty God, by some stroke of lightning, sud-
denly, without mercy, to cut short the lives of
them both. But, whilst saying this, he declared,
u Rom. xi. 21.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 165

that he seemed to see suddenly the house in which
he stood, first torn asunder, and from the roof
divided into two in the midst, and a sort of gleam-
ing fire before his eyes (for the place seemed now
under the open sky) borne down from the hea-
venly region close to him ; and, the heaven itself
giving way, and upon the back of the heaven,
Jesus, with innumerable angels, in the form of
men, standing around Him. This indeed, he saw,
above, and himself marvelled ; but below, when
Carpus had bent down, he affirmed that he saw
the very foundation ripped in two, to a sort of yawn-
ing and dark chasm, and those very men, upon
whom he had invoked a curse, standing before his
eyes, within the mouth of the chasm, trembling,
pitiful, only just not yet carried down by the mere
slipping of their feet ; and from below the chasm,
serpents, creeping up and gliding from underneath,
around their feet, now contriving to drag them away,
and weighing them down, and lifting them up, and
again inflaming or irritating with their teeth or their
tails, and all the time endeavouring to pull them
down into the yawning gulf; and that certain men
also were in the midst, co-operating with the ser-
pents against these men, at once tearing and push-
ing and beating them down. And they seemed
to be on the point of falling, partly against their
will, partly by their will; almost overcome by the
calamity, and at the same time resigned. And
Carpus said, that he himself was glad, whilst look-
ing below, and that he was forgetful of the things

1 66 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

above ; further, that he was vexed and made light
of it, because they had not already fallen, and
that he often attempted to accomplish the fact,
and that, when he did not succeed, he was both
irritated and cursed. And, when with difficulty he
raised himself, he saw the heaven again, as he saw
it before, and Jesus, moved with pity at what was
taking place, standing up from His super-celestial
throne, and descending to them, and stretching
a helping hand, and the angels, co-operating with
Him, taking hold of the two men, one from one
place and another from another, and the Lord Jesus
said to Carpus, whilst His hand was yet extended,
" Strike against Me in future, for I am ready, even
again, to suffer for the salvation of men ; and this
is pleasing to Me, provided that other men do not
commit sin. But see, whether it is well for thee
to exchange the dwelling in the chasm, and with
serpents, for that with God, and the good and
philanthropic angels." These are the things which
I heard myself, and believe to be true.

TITUS.

Zenas, one of the seventy-two disciples, who was
versed in the science of law, wrote a life of Titus,
and says that he was descended from the family
of Minos, King of Crete. Titus gave himself to the
study of Homer and Philosophy till his twentieth
year, when he heard a voice from heaven, which
told him to quit this place and save his soul. He

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 167

waited one year, to test the truth of the voice, and
then had a revelation which bade him read the
Hebrew Scriptures. Opening Isaiah, his eye fell
on chapter xli. w. 1—5. He was then sent to Jeru-
salem by the pro-consul of Crete to report upon the
reality of the miracles said to be performed by Jesus
Christ. He saw our Saviour, and His miracles, and
believed ; and became one of the seventy-two. He
witnessed the Passion and Ascension ; the Apostles
consecrated him, and sent him with Paul, whom
he attended to Antioch, to Seleucia and to Crete,
where Rutilus, pro-consul, was baptized, and Titus
appointed Bishop. In a.d. 64, St. Paul addressed
his Epistle to Titus, and about the same time Dio-
nysius also, this letter. Dexter records that Titus
visited Spain, and that Pliny, the younger, was
converted to the Faith by Titus. He consecrated
the second Bishop of Alexandria, and died at the
age of 94.

LETTER IX.

To Titus, Hierarchy asking by letter ivhat is the house

of wisdom, what the bowl, and what are its meats

and drinks ?

Section I.

I do not know, O excellent Titus, whether the holy
Timothy departed, deaf to some of the theological
symbols which were explained by me. But, in the
Symbolic Theology, we have thoroughly investigated
for him all the expressions of the Oracles concerning
God, which appear to the multitude to be monstrous.

1 68 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

For they give a colour of incongruity dreadful to the
uninitiated souls, when the Fathers of the unutterable
wisdom explain the Divine and Mystical Truth, unap-
proachable by the profane, through certain, certainly
hidden and daring enigmas. Wherefore also, the many
discredit the expressions concerning the Divine Mys-
teries. For, we contemplate them only through, the
sensible symbols that have grown upon them. We
must then strip them, and view them by themselves
in their naked ,_purity. For, thus contemplating
them, we should reverence a fountain of Life flowing
into Itself — viewing It even standing by Itself,
and as a kind of single power, simple, self-moved,
and self-worked, not abandoning Itself, but a know-
ledge surpassing every kind of knowledge, and always
contemplating Itself, through Itself. We thought
it necessary then, both for him and for others, that we
should, as far as possible, unfold the varied, forms
of the Divine representations of God in symbols.
For, with what incredible and simulated monstro-
sities are its external forms filled? For instance,
with regard to the superessential Divine generation,
representing a body of God corporally generating
God ; and describing a word flowing out into air
from a man's heart p , which eructates it, and a breath,
breathed q forth from a mouth ; and celebrating God-
bearing 1 " bosoms embracing a son of God, bodily;
or representing these things after the manner of

Ps. ex. 3 ; ii. 7. p lb. xlv. I. « lb. xxxiii. 6.
r John i. 18.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 169

plants s , and producing certain trees *, and branches u ,
and flowers x and roots, as examples ; or fountains of
waters ?, bubbling forth ; or seductive light produc-
tions of reflected splendours z ; or certain other sacred
representations which explain superessential descrip-
tions of God ; but with regard to the intelligible pro-
vidences of Almighty God, either gifts, manifesta-
tions, or powers, or properties, or repose, or abidings,
or progressions, or distinctions, or unions, clothing
Almighty God in human form a , and in the varied
shape of wild beasts b and other living creatures ,
and plants, and stones d ; and attributing to Him
ornaments e of women, or weapons of savages ; and
assigning working in clay f , and in a furnaces, as
it were to a sort of artisan ; and placing under Him,
horses 11 and chariots and thrones; and spreading
before Him certain dainty meats delicately cooked x ;
and representing Him as drinking k , and drunken 1 , and
sleeping m , and suffering from excess n . What would
any one say concerning the angers , the griefs p,
the various oaths % the repentances r , the curses, the
revenges, the manifold and dubious excuses for the
failure of promises s , the battle of giants in Genesis \
during which He is said to scheme against those

■ Isaiah xi. 10. e John xv. I. u Jer. xxiii. 5.

* Cant. xi. 1. * John iv. 14. z lb. i. 4.
» Ps. cxlv. 16. b Hosea xiii. 8. c Matt. iii. 16.
d Ez. x. I. e Apoc. i. 13—16. f Job x. 9.

* Ps. lxvi. 10. h Hab. iii. 8. l Luke xxii. 30.
k Cant. v. I. ' Jer. xlvi. 10. m Ps. xliv. 23.
■ lb. lxxviii. 65. ° Ex. xv. 7. p Judges x. 16.
1 Gen. xxii. 16. * lb. vi. 6. "lb. xii. 1—3. l lb. xi. 9.

170 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

powerful and great men, and this when they were
contriving the building, not with a view to injustice
towards other people, but on behalf of their own
safety? And that counsel devised in heaven to
deceive and mislead Achab u j and those mundane
and meritricious passions of the Canticles; and all
the other sacred compositions which appear in the
description of God, which stick at nothing, as pro-
jections, and multiplications of hidden things, and
divisions of things one and undivided, and formative
and manifold forms of the shapeless and unformed ;
of which, if any one were able to see their inner
hidden beauty, he will find every one of them
mystical and Godlike, and filled with abundant
theological light. For let us not think, that the
appearances of the compositions have been formed
for their own sake, but that they, shield the science
unutterable and invisible to the multitude, since
tilings all-holy arc not within the reach of the
profane, but are manifested to those only who
are genuine lovers of piety, who reject all childish
fancy respecting the holy symbols, and are capable
to pass with simplicity of mind, anil- aptitude of con-
templative faculty, to the simple and supernatural
and elevated truth of the symbols. Besides, we
must also consider this, that the leaching, .handed
down by.Jthe_Th£ologians is two-fold— one, secret
and mystical — the other, open and better known —
one, symbolical and initiative— the other/ philo-

n 1 Kings xxii. 20.

Letters of Diovysius the Areopagite. 171

sophic and demonstrative ;— and the unspoken is
intertwined with the spoken. The one persuades,
and desiderates the truth of the things expressed,
the other acts and implants in Almighty God, by
instructions in mysteries not learnt by teaching.
And certainly, neither our holy instructors x , nor
those of the law?, abstain from the God-befitting
symbols, throughout the celebrations of the most
holy mysteries. Yea, we see even the most holy
Angels z , mystically advancing things Divine through
enigmas; and Jesus Himself a , speaking the word
of God in parables, and transmitting the divinely
wrought mysteries, through a typical spreading of a
table b . For, it was seemly, not only that the Holy
of holies should be preserved undefiled by the multi-
tude, but also that the Divine knowledge should illu-
minate the human life, which is at once indivisible
and divisible, in a manner suitable to itself; and
to limit the passionless part of the soul to the
simple, and most inward visions of the most godlike
images ; but that its impassioned part should wait
upon, and, at the same time, strive after, the most
Divine coverings, through the pre-arranged represen-
tations of the typical symbols, as such (coverings) are,
by nature, congenial to it. And all those who are
hearers of a distinct theology without symbols, weave
in themselves a sort of type, which conducts them
to the conception of the aforesaid theology.

x Apoc. 5, y Is. 60. z Zech. iii. 4.

* Matt. xiii. 34. b lb. xxvi. 26.

1 7 2 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

Section II.
But also the very order of the visible universe sets
forth the invisible things of Almighty God, as says
both Paul and the infallible Word. Wherefore,
also, the Theologians view some things politically
and legally d , but other things, purely and without
flaw; and some things humanly e , and mediately f ,
but other things supermundanely e and perfectly 11 ;
at one time indeed, from the laws which are mani-
fest 1 , and at another, from the institutions which
are unmanifest k , as befits the holy writings and
minds and souls under consideration. For the whole
statement lying before them, and all its details, does
not contain a bare history, but a vivifying perfection.
We must then, in opposition to the vulgar conception
concerning them, reverently enter within the sacred
symbols, and not dishonour them, being as they are,
products and moulds of the Divine characteristics,
and manifest images of the unutterable and super-
natural visions. For, not only are the superessential
lights, and things intelligible, and, in one word,
things Divine, represented in various forms through
the typical symbols, as the superessential God, spoken
of as fire \ and the intelligible Oracles of Almighty
God, as flames of fire m ; but further, even the god-
like orders of the angels, both contemplated and

c Ex. iii. 10 ; xviii. 14— 27- d Ib ' xx ' 3~ x 7-

* Eph. v. 23. f Ps. viii. 4. B E P h - iv « 2 4-

* Ib. 13. l Ex. xxxi. 18. k Heb. x. 16.

1 Ueut. iv. 24. m Ps- cxix. 140.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 173

contemplating, are described under varied forms,
and manifold likenesses, and empyrean shapes".
And differently must we take the same likeness of
fire, when spoken with regard to the inconceivable
God°; and differently with regard to His intelli-
gible providences or words; and differently re-
specting the Angels. The one as causal, but the
other as originated, and the third as participative,
and different things differently, as their contempla-
tion, and scientific arrangements suggest.

And never must we confuse the sacred symbols
hap-hazard, but we must unfold them suitably to
the causes, or the origins, or the powers, or the
orders, or the dignities of which they are explanatory
tokens. And, in order that I may not extend my
letter beyond the bounds of propriety, let us come
at once to the very question propounded by you ;
and we affirm that every nourishment is perfective
of those nourished, filling up their imperfection and
their lack, and tending the weak, and guarding their
lives, making to sprout, and renewing and be-
queathing to them a vivifying wellbeing; and in
one word, urging the slackening and imperfect, and
contributing towards their comfort and perfection.

Section III.
Beautifully then, the super-wise and Good Wisdom
is celebrated by the Oracles, as placing a mystical
bowlP, and pouring forth its sacred drink, but first

» Ps. civ. 4. ° Luke xii. 49. p ?™v. ix. 2.

1 74 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

setting forth the solid meats, and with a loud voice
Itself benignly soliciting those who seek It. The
Divine Wisdom, then, sets forth the two-fold food ;
one indeed, solid and fixed, but the other liquid
and flowing forth ; and in a bowl furnishes Its own
providential generosities. Now the bowl, being
spherical and open, let it be a symbol of the Pro-
vidence over the whole, which at once expands
Itself and encircles all, without beginning and with-
out end. But since, even while going forth to all,
It remains in Itself, and stands fixed in unmoved
sameness ; and never departing from Itself, the bowl
also itself stands fixedly and unmovably. But Wisdom
is also said to build a house for itself, and in it to set
forth the solid meats and drinks, and the bowl, so
that it may be evident to those who understand
things Divine in a manner becoming God, that the
Author of the being, and of the well being, of all
things, is both an all-perfect providence, and ad-
vances to all, and comes into being in every-
thing S and embraces them all; and on the other
hand, He, the same, in the same, par excellence,
is nothing in anything at all, but overtops the
whole, Himself being in Himself, identically and
always ; and standing, and remaining, and resting,
and ever being in the same condition and in the
same way, and never becoming outside Himself,
nor falling from His own session, and unmoved
abiding, and shrine,— yea even, in it, benevolently

q yfyperai kv t<£ irayrl.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 175

exercising His complete and all-perfect providences,
and whilst going forth to all, remaining by Himself
alone, and standing always, and moving Himself;
and neither standing, nor moving Himself, but, as
one might say, both connaturally and supernaturally,
having His providential energies, in His steadfastness,
and His steadiness in His Providence.

Section IV.
But what is the solid food and what the liquid ?
For the Good Wisdom is celebrated as at once be-
stowing and providing these. I suppose then, that
the solid food is suggestive of the intellectual and
abiding perfection and sameness, within which,
things Divine are participated as a stable, and
strong, and unifying, and indivisible knowledge, by
those contemplating organs of sense, by which the
most Divine Paul, after partaking of wisdom, im-
parts his really solid nourishment ; but that the liquid
is suggestive of the stream, at once flowing through
and to all; eager to advance, and further con-
ducting those who are properly nourished as to
goodness, through things variegated and many and
divided, to the simple and invariable knowledge of
God. Wherefore the divine and spiritually perceived
Oracles are likened to dew, and water, and to milk,
and wine, and honey; on account of their life-pro-
ducing power, as in water ; and growth-giving, as in
milk ; and reviving, as in wine ; and both purifying and
preserving, as in honey. For these things, the Divine
Wisdom gives to those approaching it, and furnishes

1 7 6 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

and fills to overflowing, a stream of ungrudging and
unfailing good cheer. This, then, is the veritable
good cheer; and, on this account, it is celebrated,
as at once life-giving and nourishing and perfecting.

Section V.
According to this sacred explanation of good cheer,
even Almighty God, Himself the Author of all good
things, is said to be inebriated, by reason of the
super-full, and beyond conception, and ineffable,
immeasurableness, of the good cheer, or to speak
more properly, good condition of Almighty God.
For, as regards us, in the worst sense, drunkenness
is both an immoderate repletion, and being out of
mind and wits ; so, in the best sense, respecting God,
we ought not to imagine drunkenness as anything
else beyond the super-full immeasurableness of all
good things pre-existing in Him as Cause. But, even
in respect to being out of wits, which follows upon
drunkenness, we must consider the pre-eminence
of Almighty God, which is above conception, in
which He overtops our conception, as being above
conception and above being conceived, and above
being itself; and in short, Almighty God is inebri-
ated with, and outside of, all good things whatever,
as being at once a super-full hyperbole of every
immeasurableness of them all ; and again, as dwell-
ing outside and beyond the whole. Starting then
from these, we will take in the same fashion even
the feasting of the pious, in the Kingdom of
Almighty God. For He says, the King Himself

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 1 7 7

will come and make them recline, and will Himself
minister to them r . Now these things manifest a
common and concordant communion of the holy,
upon the good things of God, and a church of tie
first born s , whose names are written in heavens ;
and spirits of just men made perfect by all good
things, and replete with all good things; and the
reclining, we imagine, a cessation from their many
labours, and a life without pain ; and a godly citizen-
ship in light and place of living souls, replete with
every holy bliss, and an ungrudging provision of
every sort of blessed goods ; within which they are
filled with every delight; whilst Jesus both makes
them recline, and ministers to them, and furnishes
this delight ; and Himself bequeaths their everlasting
rest; and at once distributes and pours forth the
fulness of good things.

Section VI.
But, I well know you will further ask that the
propitious sleep of Almighty God, and His awaken-
ing \ should be explained. And, when we have said,
that the superiority of Almighty God, and His
incommunicability with the objects of His Pro-
vidence is a Divine sleep, and that the attention
to His Providential cares of those who need His
discipline, or His preservation, is an awakening, you
will pass to other symbols of the Word of God.
Wherefore, thinking it superfluous that by running

r Luke xii. 37. ■ Heb. xii. 23. l Ps. xliv. 23.

N

178 Letters of Dionysius the A reopagite.

through the same things to the same persons, we
should seem to say different things, and, at the same
time, conscious that you assent to things that are
good, we finish this letter at what we have said,
having set forth, as I think, more than the things
solicited in your letters. Further, we send the whole
of our Symbolical Theology, within which you will
find, together with the house of wisdom, also the
seven pillars investigated, and its solid food divided
into sacrifices and breads. And what is the mingling
of the wine ; and again, What is the sickness arising
from the inebriety of Almighty God? and in fact,
the things now spoken of are explained in it more
explicitly. And it is, in my judgment, a correct
enquiry into all the symbols of the Word of God,
and agreeable to the sacred . traditions and truths
of the Oracles.

LETTER X.

To John, Theologos, Apostle and Evangelist,
imprisoned in the Isle of Pat mo s.
I salute thee, the holy soul ! O beloved one ! and
this for me is more appropriate than for most. Hail !
O truly beloved! And to the truly Loveable and
Desired, very beloved ! Why should it be a marvel,
if Christ speaks truly, and the unjust banish His
disciples from their cities u , themselves bringing upon
themselves their due, and the accursed severing
themselves, and departing from the holy. Truly

u Matt, xxiii. 34.

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 179

things seen are manifest images of things unseen.
For, neither in the ages which are approaching, will
Almighty God be Cause* of the just separations
from Himself, but they by having separated them-
selves entirely from Almighty God ; even as we
observe the others, becoming here already with
Almighty God, since being lovers of truth, they
depart from the proclivities of things material, and
love peace in a complete freedom from all things
evil, and a Divine love of all things good ; and start
their purification y , even from the present life, by
living, in the midst of mankind, the life 2 which
is to come, in a manner suitable to angels, with
complete cessation of passion, and deification and
goodness, and the other good attributes. As for
you then, I would never be so crazy as to imagine
that you feel any suffering ; but I am persuaded that
you are sensible of the bodily sufferings merely to
appraise them. But, as for those who are unjustly
treating you, and fancying to imprison, not correctly,
the sun of the Gospel, whilst fairly blaming them,
I pray that by separating themselves from those
things which they are bringing upon themselves they
may be turned to the good, and may draw you
to themselves, and may participate in the light.
But for ourselves, the contrary will not deprive us
of the all-luminous ray of John, who are even now
about to read the record, and the renewal of this,
thy true theology: but shortly after (for I will say

x Matt. xiii. 49. r 2 Cor. iv. 11. ■ Phil. iii. 20.

180 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

it, even though it be rash), about to be united to you
yourself. For, I am altogether trustworthy, from
having learned, and reading the things made fore-
known to you by God, that you will both be liberated
from your imprisonment in Patmos, and will return
to the Asiatic coast, and will perform there imi-
tations of the good God, and will transmit them
to those after you.

LETTER XI.
Dionysius to Apollophanes, Philosopher.
At length I send a word to thee, O Love of my
heart, and recall to thy memory the many anxieties
and solicitudes, which I have formerly undergone
on thy account. For thou rememberest with what
a mild and benevolent disposition I have been ac-
customed to rebuke thy obstinacy in error, although
with scant reason, in order that I might uproot those
vain opinions with which thou wast deceived. But
now, adoring the supreme toleration of the Divine
long-suffering towards thee, I offer thee my con-
gratulations, O part of my soul, now that you are
turning your eyes to your soul's health. For, even
the very things which formerly you delighted to
spurn, you now delight to affirm; and the things
that you used to reject with scorn, you now delight
to enforce. For, often have I set before you, and
that with great precision, what even Moses com-
mitted to writing, that man was first made by God,
from mud, and the sins of the world were punished

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagtte. 181

by the flood, and in process of time, that the same
Moses, united in friendship with God, performed
many wonders, both in Egypt and the exodus from
Egypt, by the power and action of the same God.
Nor Moses only, but other divine prophets sub-
sequently, published similar things, not infrequently,
who long before foretold that God should take
the nature of man from a Virgin. To which state-
ment of mine, not once, but often, you replied, that
you did not know whether these things were true, and
that you were entirely ignorant, even who that Moses
was, and whether he was white or black. Further,
that you rejected with scorn the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, Who is God of all Majesty— which you used
to call mine. Further, that Paul, the globe trotter,
and a scatterer of words, who was calling people
from things terrestrial to things celestial, you were
unwilling to receive. Lastly, you reproach me,
as a turncoat, who had left the customs of my
country's religion, and was leading people to ini-
quitous sacrilege, and urged me to unlearn the
things in which I was placing my trust ; or, at least,
that I should put away other people's things, and
deem it sufficient to keep what was my own, lest
I should be found to detract from the honour due
to divine deities, and the institutions of my fathers.
But, after the supernal light of the paternal glory
of His own will sent the rays of His own splendour
upon the darkness of your mind, at once He put
into my inmost heart, that I should recall to your
mind the whole counsel of God. How, for instance,

, 8 2 Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite.

when we were staying in Heliopolis (I was then
about twenty-five, and your age was nearly the same
as mine), on a certain sixth day, and about the sixth
hour the sun, to our great surprise, became obscured,
through the moon passing over it, not because it
is a god, but because a creature of God, when
its very true light was setting, could not bear to
shine Then I earnestly asked thee, what thou,
O man most wise, thought of it. Thou, then, gave
such an answer as remained fixed in my mind,
and that no oblivion, not even that of the image
of death, ever allowed to escape. For, when the
whole orb had been throughout darkened, by a black
mist of darkness, and the sun's disk had begun again
to be purged and to shine anew, then taking the
table of Philip Aridsus, and contemplating the orbs
of heaven, we learned, what was otherwise well
known, that an eclipse of the sun could not, at that
time, occur. Next, we observed that the moon
approached the sun from the east, and intercepted
its rays, until it covered the whole ; whereas, at
other times, it used to approach from the west.
Further also, we noted that when it had reached the
extreme edge of the sun, and had covered the whole
orb that it then went back towards the east, al-
though that was a time which called neither for the
presence of the moon, nor for the conjunction of
the sun. I therefore, O treasury of manifold learn-
ing since I was incapable of understanding so great
a mystery, thus addressed thee-" What thinkest
thou of this thing, O Apollophanes, mirror of learn-

Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite. 183

ing ? " " Of what mysteries do these unaccustomed
portents appear to you to be indications?" Thou
then, with inspired lips, rather than with speech
of human voice, ""These are, O excellent Dionysius,"
thou saidst, "changes of things divine." At last,
when I had taken note of the day and year, and had
perceived that, that time, by its testifying signs,
agreed with that which Paul announced to me,
once when I was hanging upon his lips, then I gave
my hand to the truth, and extricated my feet from
the meshes of error. Which truth, henceforth, I,
with admiration, both preach and urge upon thee —
which is life and way, and true light, — which lighteth
every man coming into this world, — to which even
thou at last, as truly wise, hast yielded. For thou
yieldedst to life when thou renounced death. And
surely thou hast, at length, acted in the best possible
manner, if thou shalt adhere henceforth to the same
truth, so as to associate with us more closely. For
those lips will henceforth be on our side, by the
splendour of whose words, as blunting the edge
of my mind, thou hast been accustomed by pretexts
brought from various quarters, and by a gorgeous
glow of eloquence, to vex the innermost recesses
of our breast; — yea, even sometimes to probe us
sharply by occasional stings of malice. Wherefore
as formerly, as thou thyself used to say, the know-
ledge of Christian doctrine, although savoury, was
not savoury to thee, but when you had brought
yourself to it, merely to taste, it shrank from your
mental palate, and as it were, disdained to find

1 84 Letters of Diotiysius the Areopagite,

a resting-place in your stomach ; so now, after you
have acquired a heart, intelligent and provident,
elevate thyself to things supernal, and do not sur-
render, for things that are not, things which really
are. Therefore in future, be so much more obsti-
nate against those who have urged you to the false,
as you showed yourself perverse towards us, when
we invited you, with all our force, to the truth. For
thus, I, in the Lord Jesus, Whose Presence is my
being and my life, will henceforth die joyful, since
thou also livest in Him.

End of Dionysius the Areopagite. May his prayer
be with us !

NOTE, p. 147-

The "twenty hours" which made one day almost
equal to three are reckoned thus. A degree repre-
sents an hour. The Sun went down ten degrees =
ten hours. The Sun had then run already a course
of ten hours, from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. In returning
there were ten hours more, and in retracing the route
ten hours more, which together make thirty hours.
The two hours, to complete the day of twelve hours,
make thirty-two hours. The thirty-two hours are
four hours less than thirty-six, the time of three days
qf twelve hours each. One day was thus nearly
equal to three. Whatever we may think the facts,
the Babylonians commemorated the threefold Mythra
— the Sun— in consequence. See Dulac.

PREFACE TO LITURGY.

This Liturgy gives the doctrine of Dionysius in
a liturgical form. The Greek original might be
restored from the writings of Dionysius. No one
could reasonably doubt that the Author of the
Writings and the Liturgy was the same. This
Liturgy should be compared with the Coptic
Liturgy of Dionysius, Bishop of Athens, disciple
of Paul, and with the Liturgy of St. Basil, adapted
from this, as used by the Uniat Copts, translated
by the Marquess of Bute. In my opinion, this
Liturgy was written for the Therapeutae near Alex-
andria, described by Philo in his "contemplative
life," who were Christians ; who occupied themselves
with the contemplation of the Divine Names, and
the heavenly Hierarchy. It was written not earlier
than the death of James, Apostle and Martyr,
a.d. 42, and probably not later than a.d. 67 ; when
Dionysius, at the request of St. Paul, left Athens
to meet the Apostle at Rome, for the purpose of
being sent by him to Gaul. A note of primitive
antiquity is found in the description of the Church,
as " from one end of the earth to the other."
There is no " one, only, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
Orthodox Church," as in the later Liturgy of St.
Basil. Some expressions are obscure, from the Latin

i86

PREFACE TO LITURGY.

Version, and it would be rash, without profound
study, to venture to suggest the Greek text. In
consequence of this, and other Liturgies, and his
excellent writings, Dionysius was frequently com-
memorated in the diptychs as one of the Doctors
of the Church.

LITURGY OF ST. DIONYSIUS,
BISHOP OF THE ATHENIANS 2

ist. The Prayer before the Pax b .

Pr. c " O Lord God, Who art simplex, not com-
pound, and hidden in essence sublime ! God the
Father, from Whom all paternity which is in heaven
and earth is named d , Source of Divinity, of those
who participate in the Divine Nature, and Perfector
of those who attain perfection ; Good above all good,
and Beautiful above all beautiful ; Peaceful repose,
Peace, Concord and Union of all souls ; compose
the dissensions which divide us from one another,
and lead them back to an union with charity, which
has a kind of similitude to Thy sublime essence :
and as Thou art One above all, and we, one,, through
the unanimity of a good mind ; that we may be
found before Thee simplex and not divided, whilst
celebrating this mystery; and that through the
embraces of Charity and bonds of Love, we may
be spiritually one, both with ourselves and with
one another, through that Thy Peace pacifying all ;
through the Grace and Compassion and Love to-
wards man of Thine Only-begotten Son; through

a Liturgiarum Orien. Collectio E. Renaudoti. Par, 1847. T. ii.
p. 201.

b D. N., C. I. §4; C. II. § 11.

c Pr. = Priest. D. = Deacon. P. = Populus.

d C. II. § 5.

1 8 8 Liturgy of St. Dionysius,

Whom, and with Whom is due to Thee, glory,
honour and dominion, with Thy most holy Spirit."
P. "Amen." Pr. "Pax" (to all). P. "And with
thy spirit." D. "Let each one give the Peace."
P. "All." D. "Post." P. " Before Thee, O Lord."
Pr. " Giver of Holiness, and distributor of every
good, O Lord, Who sanctifiest every rational creature
with sanctification, which is from Thee; sanctify,
through Thy Holy Spirit, us Thy servants, who
bow before Thee ; free us from all servile passions
of sin, from envy, treachery, deceit, hatred, enmities,
and from him, who works the same, that we may
be worthy, holily to complete the ministry of these
life-giving Sacraments, through the heavenly Pontiff,
Jesus Christ, Thine Only-begotten Son, through
Whom, and with Whom, is due to Thee, glory and
honour." P. "Amen." Pr. "Essentially existing,
and from all ages; Whose nature is incomprehen-
sible, Who art near and present to all, without any
change of Thy sublimity; Whose goodness every
existing thing longs for and desires ; the intelligible
indeed, and creatures endowed with intelligence,
through intelligence; those endowed with sense,
through their senses ; Who, although Thou art One
essentially, nevertheless art present with us, and
amongst us, in this hour, in which Thou hast called
and led us to these Thy holy mysteries ; and hast
made us worthy to stand before the sublime throne
of Thy majesty, and to handle the sacred vessels
of Thy ministry with our impure hands : take away
from us, O Lord, the cloke of iniquity in which

Bishop of the Athenians. iSg

we are enfolded, as from Jesus, the son of Josedec
the High Priest, Thou didst take away the filthy
garments, and adorn us with piety and justice, as
Thou didst adorn him with a vestment of glory ;
that clothed with Thee alone, as it were with
a garment, and being like temples crowned with
glory, we may see Thee unveiled with a mind
divinely illuminated, and may feast, whilst we,
by communicating therein, enjoy this sacrifice set
before us ; and render to Thee glory and praise."
P. "Amen." D. "Let us stand becomingly." P.
" The Mercies of God." Pr. "Charity." P. "And
with thy spirit." Pr. "Lift up your hearts." P.
"We lift them to the Lord." Pr. "Let us give
thanks to the Lord." P. "It is meet and right."
Priest {bending tow), " For truly the celebration of
Thy benefits, O Lord, surpasses the powers of mind,
of speech, and of thought; neither is sufficient every
mouth, mind and tongue, to glorify Thee worthily.
For, by Thy word the heavens were made, and by
the breath of Thy mouth all the celestial powers ;
all the lights in the firmament, sun and moon, sea
and dry land, and whatever is in them. The voice-
less, by their silence, the vocal, by their voices,
words and hymns, perpetually bless Thee ; because
Thou art essentially good and beyond all praise,
existing in Thy essence incomprehensibly. This
visible and sensible creature praises Thee, and also
that intellectual, placed above sensible perception.
Heaven and earth glorify Thee. Sea and air pro-
claim Thee. The sun, in his course, praises Thee ;

1 90 Liturgy of St. Dionysius,

the Moon, in her changes, venerates Thee. Troops
of Archangels, and hosts of Angels ; those virtues,
more sublime than the world and mental faculty,
send benedictions to Thine abode. Rays of light,
eminent and hidden, send their sanctus to Thy
glory. Principalities and Orders praise Thee, with
their Jubilate. Powers and dominions venerate
Thee. Virtues, Thrones and Seats inaccessible exalt
Thee. Splendours of light eternal — mirrors without
flaw — holy essences — recipients of wisdom sublime —
beyond all, investigators of the will hidden from all,
in clearest modulations of inimitable tones, and by
voices becoming a rational creature ; many eyed
Cherubim of most subtle movement, bless Thee.
Seraphin, furnished with six wings intertwined, cry
Sanctus unto Thee. Those very ones, who veil
their faces with their wings, and cover their feet
with wings, and flying on every side, and clapping
with their wings, (that they may not be devoured
by Thy devouring fire) sing one to another with
equal harmony of all, sweet chants, pure from every
thing material, rendering to Thee, eternal glory ;
crying with one hymn, worthy of God, and saying,"
P. " Holy, holy, holy." Priest {bending)—" Holy art
Thou, O God the Father, Omnipotent, Maker and
Creator of every creature— Invisible and visible, and
sensible ; Holy art Thou, O God, the Only-begotten
Son, Power and Wisdom of the Father, Lord and
our Saviour Jesus Christ ; Holy art Thou, O God,
the Holy Spirit, Perfector and Sanctifier of Saints.
Triad, Holy and undivided — co-essential and of

Bishop of the A thenians. 191

equal glory, Whose compassion towards our race
is most effusive. Thou art holy, and making all
things holy. Who didst not leave that, our very
race, in exile from Paradise, although in the mean-
time involved in every kind of sin, but wast mani-
fested to it by the Word, Who, in the presence
of the world, suffered extreme poverty ; it in very
truth, He, the Word, took, being made like to it
in all things, sin excepted, that it might make Him
prepared beforehand unto holiness, and disposed
for this life-giving feast. {Raising his voice) Who
being conceived, formed and configured by the Holy
Spirit, and from virgin blood of the Virgin Mary,
holy genitrix of God, was born indeed Man, and
from the pure and most holy body of the same,
and receiving Deity in Flesh, whilst the law and
properties of nature were preserved, but in a manner
beyond nature, and was acknowledged God in the
Spirit, and Man in the flesh ; and inasmuch as the
Word existed before the ages, from Thee, as was
worthy of God, was born, and by power and miracles,
such as became the Maker of all, was testified that
He was such, from the very fact that He has freely
imparted a complete healing and a perfect salvation
to the whole human race. Likewise, in the end
and consummation of His dispensation on our be-
half, and before His saving Cross, He took bread
into His pure and holy hands, and looked to Thee,
O God the Father; giving thanks, He blessed,
sanctified, brake and gave to His disciples, the
holy Apostles, saying, "Take and eat from it and

1 9 2 Liturgy of St. Dionysius,

believe that it is my body, that same, which for
you and for many is broken and given, for the
expiation of faults, the remission of sins, and eternal
life." P. "Amen." Pr. "Likewise, in the same
manner, over the cup also, which He mingled with
wine and water, He gave thanks, blessed, sanctified,
and gave to the same disciples and holy apostles,
saying, ' Take, drink from it, all of you, and believe
that this is My blood of the new covenant, which
is shed and given for you and for many, for the
expiation of faults, remission of sins, and eternal life.'"
P. "Amen."

Pr. " Himself also, through the same holy Apostles,
gave a precept to the whole company and congrega-
tion of the faithful, saying, ' This do to the memory
of Me, and as oft as ye shall eat this bread and
drink the commixture which is in this cup, and shall
celebrate this feast, ye shall perform a commemor-
ation of My death until I come.' " P. " Of Thy
death, O Lord, we perform a memorial." Pr. " Obey-
ing, then, Thy sovereign precept, and celebrating
a commemoration of Thy death and resurrection,
through this sacrifice in perpetual mystery, we await
also Thy second coming, the renovation of our race,
and the vivification of our mortality. For, not
simply, but with glory worthy of God, in Spirit
ineffable, Thou wilt terribly come, and seated upon
the lofty throne of Thy majesty, Thou wilt exact the
acknowledgment of Thy royal power, from all
things created and made: and justly, Thou wilt
take° vengeance for Thy image upon those who

Bishop of the Athenians. 193

have corrupted it through evil passions. This sac-
rifice, here celebrated, we commemorate to Thee,

Lord, and the sufferings which Thou didst endure
on the Cross for us. Be propitious, O Good, and
Lover of men, in that hour full of fear and trembling,
to this congregation of those adoring Thee, and
to all sons of the holy Church, bought by Thy
precious blood. May coals of fire be kept from
those who are tinged with Thy blood, and sealed
by Thy sacraments in Thy holy Name, as formerly
the Babylonian flame from the youths of the house
of Hanania; for neither do we know others beside
Thee, O God, nor in other have we hope of attain-
ing salvation, since indeed Thou art the Helper and
Saviour of our race ; and on this account, our wise
Church, through all our lips and tongues, implores
Thee, and through Thee, and with Thee, Thy Father,
saying " —

P. "Have mercy." Pr. "We also." D. "How
tremendous is this hour." {The Priest bending, says
the prayer of the invocation of the Holy Spirit.)
Pr. " I invoke Thee, O God the Father, have mercy
upon us, and wash away, through Thy grace, the
uncleanness of my evil deeds ; destroy, through Thy
mercy, what I have done, worthy of wrath ; for

1 do not extend my hands to Thee with presump-
tion, for I am not able even to look to heaven
on account of the multitude of my iniquities and
the filth of my wickedness. But, strengthening my
mind, in Thy loving-kindness, grace and long-suffer-
ing, I crave Thy holy Spirit, that Thou wouldst send

O

194 Liturgy of St. Dionysius,

Him upon me, and upon these oblations, here set
forth, and upon Thy faithful people." Pr. "Hear
me, O Lord." P. " Kyrie eleison," three times.
Pr. "Through His alighting upon them, and His
overshadowing, may He make this bread indeed,
living body, and procuring life to our souls; body
salutary — body celestial— body saving our souls and
bodies — body of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus
Christ — for remission of sins, and eternal life, for
those receiving it." P. "Amen." Pr. "And the
commixture, which is in this cup, may He make
living blood, and procuring life to all our souls;
blood salutary — blood celestial — blood saving our
souls and bodies — blood of our Lord God and
Saviour Jesus Christ, for remission of sins to those
receiving them." P. "Amen." Pr. "Further, ac-
cording to the tradition, and Divine recommendation
of those, who were eye witnesses of Thy mysteries,
and interpreters of Thy wonderful acts, we offer this
Eucharist before Thee, O Lord, and through it
we commemorate Thy charity towards us, and the
universal dispensation of Thine Only-begotten One,
in this world, that Thou wouldst also be reminded
through it of Thy mercy, cognate and natural to
Thee, which, at all hours, is shed upon Thy creatures,
and wouldst snatch us from the wrath, reserved for
the wicked ; and from the punishments of those who
work iniquity ; and from the cruel attack of demons,
, .who attack our souls, when we shall go hence; and
/ouldst make us worthy of Thy kingdom, and the
ntations of those who have kept Thy precepts ;

Bishop of the Athenians. 195

and we will render to Thee, glory and the giving
of thanks, &c." P. " Amen." Pr. (bending) " By
Thy words, that cannot lie, and by Thy most true
teachings, Thou hast said, O Lord, that great is the
joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. Re-
joice then now, O Lord, in the conversion of Thy
servants, who stand here before Thee; add also,
exultation over us, to the souls of the pious and
just Fathers — Patriarchs — Prophets — Apostles —
Preachers — Evangelists — Martyrs — Confessors —
Zealots of Divine Worship — Benefactors — Givers of
Alms — of those who minister to the necessities of
the poor — and from all, may there be one act of
praise to-day, before Thee, at this holy Altar, and
in the heavenly Jerusalem." (Elevating his voice)
"And on account of these, and other things of the
same kind, may Thy holy Church, which is from one
end of the earth to the other, be established, and
preserved in tranquillity and peace, in doctrines
evangelical and apostolical, by Divine Hierarchs,
rightly dispensing the word of truth, and instructing,
by the dogmas of true religion : through holy Priests,
who embrace the word of life, and carry themselves
illustriously in dispensing Thy celestial mysteries :
through Deacons, who are modest, and perform the
pure and royal ministry without flaw, through true,
faithful ones, who occupy themselves in words and
acts worthy of a Christian ; through choirs of virgins
of each sex, bearing about in their members the life-
giving mortification of Thy Only-begotten Son. And
from hence, in one troop, may we all be sent to that

196 Liturgy of St. Dionysius,

Church, the Jerusalem of the firstborn, whose names
are written in the heavens, and there let us spiritually
glorify Thee, O God the Father, and Thine Only-
begotten Son, and Thy Holy Spirit." P. "Amen."
Pr. "Assist also, O Lord, all those who assist Thy
Holy Church, by offerings— by tenths— by ministry —
and by oblations ; and those also, who ask the
prayers of our littleness, give to them the object
of those their prayers, O Lord, Lover of men."
{Raising his voice) "Send also perfect attention
and full health to all those who have the charge
of the poor, who provide food for orphans and
widows, and visit the infirm and afflicted. Restore
to them, here indeed abundance and goods, there
also delights incorruptible, because thou art Lord
of each age, and distributor of immense reward.
And to Thee beseems beneficence, both here and
there, and to Thine Only-begotten Son." P. " Amen."
Pr. {bending) " Restrain, O King of Kings, the wrath
of kings, mitigate the fury of soldiers, take away
wars and seditions, cast down the pride of heretics,
and the sentences pronounced against us by Justice,
may Thy love for mankind overcome, and turn into
the gentleness of benignity"; {raising his voice)
" Tranquillity and Peace from Thee, concede to the
earth and all its inhabitants, visit it with Thy benefits
and the care of Thy mercy, with a good and temper-
ate condition of atmosphere, copiousness of fruits,
and abundance of crops, and variety of flowers;
preserve it from all pests of fury, and all unjust
attacks of enemies, both spiritual and sensible, that

Bishop of the Athenians. 197

without any injury of passion, we may sing perpetual
hymns of praise, to Thee and to Thine Only-begotten
Son." P. "Amen." Pr. {bending) "At this altar,
and at that more exalted one in heaven, may there
be a good remembrance of all those, who, out of the
world, have pleased Thee — chiefly indeed of the
Holy genitrix of God, of John the Messenger, Baptist
and Forerunner, of Peter and Paul, and of the holy
company of the Apostles, of Stephen also, and of
the whole multitude of Martyrs, and of all those,
who, before them, with them and after them, have
pleased, and do please Thee." {Raising his voice)
"And since indeed Thou art Omnipotent, to the
company of those beloved ones and to Thy family,
join our weakness, O Lord, to that blessed con-
gregation, to this Divine part, that, through them
may be received our oblations and prayers, before
the lofty throne of Thy Majesty, inasmuch as we
are weak and infirm, and wanting in confidence
before Thee. Forsooth, our sin and our righteous-
ness are as nothing in comparison with the ocean,
broad and immense, of Thy mercy. Looking then,
into the hearts of each, send to each one good
returns for their petitions, that in all and in each
may be adored and praised, Thy Majesty, and that
of Thine Only-begotten Son." P. "Amen." Pr.
{bending) "Remember, O Lord, all Bishops, Doctors
and Prelates of Thy holy Church, those, who from
James, Apostle, Bishop and Martyr, to this present
day, have pleased, and do please Thee." {Raising
his voice) "Engraft in us, O Lord, their true faith,

198 Liturgy of St. Dionysius,

and their zeal for the true religion ; their sincere
charity without defect ; their morals without stain ;
in order that, adhering to their footsteps, we may
be partakers of their reward, and of the crowns of
victory which are prepared for them in Thy heavenly
kingdom, and there, together with them, we may
sing to Thee, Glory unceasing, and to Thy Only-
begotten Son." P. "Amen." Pr. (pending) "Re-
member, O Lord, all those who are fallen asleep,
who have laid themselves down in Thy hope, in
the true faith. More especially, and by name,
our Fathers, Brothers and Masters, and those, on
behalf of whom, and by favour of whom, this holy
oblation is offered," {raising his voice) "join, O Lord,
their names, with the names of Thy Saints in the
blessed habitation of those, who feast and rejoice
in Thee ; not recalling against them the memory
of their sins, nor bringing to their memory the
things which they have foolishly done. For no
one is tied to the flesh, and at the same time,
innocent in Thy sight. For One alone has been
seen on earth without sin, Jesus Christ, Thine Only-
begotten Son; Simplex e , who came to composition,
through whom we also have hope of obtaining
mercy." P. " Keep quiet." Pr. {bending) " Re-
mitting our and their voluntary sins, knowingly
or ignorantly committed. Be propitious, O Lord,
Lover of men." {Raising his voice) "And grant
to us a peaceful end, departure with mercy, that
we may stand without fault on the right hand ; and,

• D. N., C. I. § 4.

Bishop of the Athenians. 199

with open face, and confidence, run to meet the
arising of Thine Only-begotten Son, and His second
and glorious manifestation from heaven; and may
hear from Him, that blessed voice, which He shall
pronounce at the last day to the Blessed." " Blessed
of my Father receive the inheritance of the heavenly
kingdom," " that in this, as in all, may be glorified
and praised, Thy most venerated Name." P. " That,
&c." Pr. "Peace." P. "And with thy spirit."
The Priest breaks the Host, and says the prayer,
before "Our Father." Pr. "Father of all, and
Beginning, Which is above all things — Light eternal,
and Fountain of Light, Which illuminates all natures
endowed with reason ; Who callest the poor from
the dust, and raisest the beggar from the dunghill ;
and hast called us, .lost, rejected, and infirm, to
the liberty and household dignity of Thy sons,
through Thy beloved Son, grant to us, that we may
appear in Thy sight, holy sons, and not unworthy
of the name ; and may also perform all our ministry
after a blameless manner ; and with purity of soul,
and cleanness of intellect, and with a godly mind,
whenever we invoke Thee, God the Father Omni-
potent, holy and heavenly, we pray and say, Our
Father, which art in heaven." P. " Hallowed be
Thy Name, &c." Pr. "Free us, Thy servants and
sons, from all temptations, most difficult, and sur-
passing our forces ; and from all griefs, which can
bring loss to our body or soul. Guard us, at the
same time from the evil one, and from his universal
power, and from his most pernicious devices. For

200 Liturgy of St. Dionysius,

Thou art King of all, and to Thee we render glory."
P. "Amen." Pr. "Peace," P. "And with thy
spirit." D. "Before" (Ante). P. " Before Thee,
O Lord." (Coram.) Pr. "Look, O Lord, upon
Thy faithful people, who bend before Thee, and
await Thy gift, and contemplate the deposit of
the Sacraments of Thy Only-begotten, O God the
Father. Take not away Thy grace from us, and
cast us not away from Thy ministry, and from
participation in Thy sacraments, but prepare us,
that we may be pure and without flaw, and worthy
of this feast; and that, with a conscience unblam-
able, we may ever enjoy His precious body and
blood; and in a life, glorious and endless, may
recline in a spiritual habitation, and may feast at
the table of Thy kingdom, and may render to Thee
glory and praise." P. "Amen." Pr. "Peace."
P -And with thy spirit." D. "With fear." Pr.
-Holy things to holy persons." P. ''One^holy
Father." D. "Let us stand becomingly." P.
"Before Thee." Pr. "We give thanks to Thee,
O Lord, and with grateful mind we acknowledge
Thy loving-kindness; because, from nothing, Thou
hast led us forth to that which we are, and hast
made us members of Thy household, and sons of
Thy sacraments; and hast entrusted this religious
ministry to us, and hast made us worthy of this
spiritual table. Preserve in us, O Lord, the deposit
of Thy Divine Mysteries, that we may frame and
complete our life in Thy sight, after the fashion
of the angels; that we may be secured and in-

Bishop of the Athenians. 201

separable through the reception of Thy holy (mys-
teries) ; performing Thy great and perfect will, and
may be found ready for that last consummation, and
to stand before Thy Majesty, and may be made
worthy of the pleasure of Thy kingdom, through
the grace, mercy and love towards man, of Thy
Only-begotten Son, through Whom, and with Whom,
is due to Thee, glory, honour, &c." P. " Amen."
Pr. "Peace." P. "And with thy spirit." D.
"After" (Post). P. "Before Thee, O Lord." Pr.
" O Christ, the King of Glory, and Father of the
Age to come ; Holy Sacrifice ; heavenly Hierarch ;
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sin of the
world, spare the sins of Thy people, and dismiss
the foolishness of Thy flock. Preserve us, through
the communication of Thy Sacraments, from every
sin, whether it be committed by word, or thought,
or deed ; and from whatever makes us far from
the familiarity of Thy household, that our bodies
may be guarded by Thy body, and our souls re-
newed through Thy sacraments. And may Thy
benediction, O Lord, be in our whole man, within
and without ; and may Thou be glorified in us, and
by us, and may Thy right hand rest upon us, and
that of Thy blessed Father, and of Thy most holy
Spirit." P, "Amen." D. " Bless, G Lord."

Cannes,
Christmas, 1896.

OBJECTIONS TO GENUINENESS.

The most plausible objection to the genuineness
of these writings is thus expressed by Dupin :
" Eusebius and Jerome wrote an accurate catalogue
of each author known to them — with a few obscure
exceptions, — and yet never mention the writings of
the Areopagite." Great is the rejoicing in the House
of the Anti-Areopagites over this proof ; — but what
are the facts? Eusebius acknowledges that innu-
merable works have not come to him— Jerome dis-
claims either to know or to give an accurate catalogue
either of authors or works. The Library of Caesarea
contained three hundred thousand volumes, accord-
ing to the modest computation of Doublet, according
to Schneider, many more — Jerome says there are
some writings, so illustrious in themselves, that they
will not suffer from not being mentioned by him ;
Jerome follows Dionysius on the Heavenly Hier-
archy; Jerome's Catalogue of Illustrious Men con-
tains one hundred and thirty-five names.

Josephus is mentioned for his testimony to Christ
— Seneca, for his correspondence with St. Paul —
Philo, for his description of the Therapeutae of
Alexandria. Yet Dupin would have the unwary infer
that Jerome gives a full catalogue of each Author
known to him, with a few obscure exceptions.

The " Ecclesiastical History " of Eusebius treats of

Objections to Geiiirineness. 203

the nature of Christ, the companions of the Apostles,
the Martyrdoms — the succession of Bishops — the
persecutions — -the folk-lore of the Church to the
fourth Century. The Book would fill about 125
pages, yet Dupin would have us believe that he gives
a complete catalogue ; He does not give the writings
of Hymenals and Narcissus, of Athenagoras, and
Pantaenus, nor a complete list of Clement, Origen,
and Dionysius of Alexandria. His silence, in my
opinion, is owing to " odium theologicum." Accord-
ing to Eusebius, Jesus is Sn-ro's ; according to Dio-
nysius, Jesus is tinXovs; both true when properly
understood, but when misunderstood—" Hinc la-
chrymae illae " — Dupin formed his premise for his
conclusion, not from facts a .

Fallacy of Names.

Pearson, Daille, Blundellum, Erasmus, Valla,
Westcott, Lupton, pronounce against the genuine-
ness. Who are you? But Pearson demolishes
Daille ; Vossius pulverises Blundellum ; Erasmus
repudiates Valla. Dr. Westcott, following Dupin,
assumes the non-genuineness, but his literary instinct
places his Article on Dionysius before that on Origen.
Dean Colet bumps the scale against Mr. Lupton.

Pearson, in the xth Chapter of Ignatii Vindiciae,
gives the shortest and best summary in favour of the
genuineness. Speaking of the scholars of his own
day, he says, " No one is so ignorant as not to know
that these writings were recognised as genuine by the
a Vidieu, page 107.

204 Objections to Genuineness.

best judges in the sixth, fifth, fourth, and third
centuries." Unhappily, he also said, Every "eru-
dite " person regarded them in his day as written in
the fourth century, and he assumed the date of
Eusebius' death, as the date of the works, to account
for his silence. Hence every inerudite person, who
wished to pass for erudite, maintained that opinion
for his own reputation. But when Pearson had re-
surveyed the evidence, he confessed, with shame,
that though he had given, what seemed to him a true
opinion, he left the decision of the whole matter to
the judgment of a more learned person.

Erasmus, in his " Institutio " of a Christian Prince,
writes thus :— " Divus ille Dionysius qui fecit tres
Hierarchias." In his prime work, "ratio verae reli-
gionis," Erasmus not only enumerates the "Divine
Names," the "Mystic and Symbolic Theology," but
calls them, not Stoic, not Platonic, not Aristotelian,
but "celestial" philosophy. He so moulds Dionysius
into his book, that it becomes Dionysius writing
elegant Latin. The only reason which outweighed
with him all external testimony, was, that Erasmus
could not imagine that any man, living in apostolic
times, and so far removed from the age of Erasmus,
could possibly have penned such a mirror of apostolic
doctrine. How could the Areopagite, though dis-
ciple of Paul, and familiar friend of John Theologus,
possibly be so learned as the author of these writings?
Such is the testimony of the two Theologians who
have been permitted to be doubtful of the genuine-
ness.

Objections to Genuineness. 205

Gregory of Tours b .
Gregory is the great authority of those who think
that the St. Denis of France is not identical with
Dionysius the Areopagite. The authority is worthy
of their critical acumen. Gregory collects the more
obscure martyrdoms, in Gaul, under Nero, and sub-
sequent Emperors. He gives several martyrdoms
under Nero, and thus proves the Apostolic Evangeli-
sation of Gaul. Gregory quotes, and misquotes, and
misunderstands the ancient document c ," Concerning d
seven men sent by St. Peter into Gaul,— in Gallias —
to preach." "Under Claudius — sub CLDIO—
Peter the Apostle sent certain disciples into Gaul to
preach, — they were, Trophimus, Paulus, Martial,
Austremonius, Gatianus, Saturninus, Valerius, and
many companions." — These men were sent a.d. 42 —
43. Gregory omits Valerius, and inserts Dionysius
—who was not converted to the Christian Faith till
a.d. 44 or 49. Then Gregory misreads " Claudio " for
" consulibus Decio," and adds, "Grato" as the fellow-
consul. Thus a disciple of the Apostles, sent by
Clement, successor of Peter, arrives in Gaul a.d. 250,
and the identical names of his companions recur
miraculously in the third century. At the very time
that Trophimus e is thus supposed to have arrived at
Aries, we have a letter from Cyprian, a.d. 254,
urging Pope Stephen to depose Marcion, 15th or

b L'Abbe Darras. St. Denys 1' Areopagite, p. 34-
c Ibid., p. 51.

d See Monuments inedits de M. Faillon, t. ii. p. 375-
e Darras, p. 14.

2o6 Objections to Genuineness.

1 8th Bishop of Aries from Trophimus. Such is the
basis upon which our critical friends build their
house upon the sand.

The Peres Bolandistes.
The Peres Bolandistes are a wonder in Christen-
dom. They are critical, and yet follow the gross
blunder of Gregory of Tours. They belong to the
papal obedience, and yet prefer Gregory of Tours
when wrong, to Gregory XIII., when right. They
pronounce the solemn declaration of Pope John
XlXth, "that Martial of Limoges was an apostolic
man'," as of no historic value. They think that
St. John Damascene did not possess the same
critical apparatus for proving the authenticity of the
writings of Dionysius, that we possess in the xixth
Century. Their " actes authentiques 6 " of Dionysius
acknowledge that he was sent to Gaul by Clement,
successor of Peter; and yet they affirm that he
arrived in Gaul, a.d. 250. After Clement I., who
succeeded Peter and Paul, there was not another
Clement, Bishop of Rome, for a thousand years h .
Happily, Les petits Bolandistes are more rational
and critical than their Peres.

General Objection.
11 The style, the theological learning, the language
and allusions, prove the writings written after the
apostolic age."

1 See Surius. * Darras, 293—300.

h Clement I., a.d. 67, CI. II. 1046.

Objections to Genuineness. 207

Is the Epistolary style the proof? St. Paul,
St. John, St. Peter, St. Luke, and nearly the whole
of the New Testament is written under the form
of Epistles. The Epistle of St. James,— the first
written in the Canon of the New Testament, — will
bear comparison with the book of Job for ornate
diction. Consult the marginal references to the
Epistle of St. Peter, to see the scriptural knowledge
of the Apostles. Men use the testimony of the
High Priests, that the Apostles were unlearned and
ignorant men, but omit their testimony that they
took knowledge of them, that they had been with
Jesus ; and the further testimony, that Jesus opened
their understanding, that they should understand
the testimony of the Scriptures, respecting Himself;
and further, that the Holy Spirit should recall to
them whatever He had said to them. Those who
would rather assume twenty miracles, than acknow-
ledge one natural fact, surmise, that a Syrian, in
the ivth century, may have written Greek permeated
with technical expressions of Plato and Aristotle.
There is not a single allusion to persons or events
after the first century, unless it be supposed that
the Epistle of Ignatius, a.d. 108, is quoted. The
works abound in names recorded in the New Testa-
ment. The Apostolic Epistles allude to the leaven
of heresy already working. The Antwerp edition
gives about five hundred references to Holy Scripture
in the Writings of Dionysius. He quotes every book
in the Bible, except the two last particular Epistles
of St. John, or John Presbyter. Dionysius writes

208

Objections to Genuineness.

four letters to Gaius, to whom St. John wrote his
third Epistle. We have, therefore, in the writings
of this Apostolic man, a proof that the Canonical
Scriptures were quoted as the Oracles of God, in
the first century, and a triumphant testimony that
Faith is more trustworthy than criticism.

Thanks be to God !

©trjcr Mtorks brr same JUtrjnr.

HOLY SCRIPTURES IN CHURCH OF ROME.

APOSTOLIC TRADITIONS ACCORDING TO THE

COUNCIL OF TRENT.

THE CELESTIAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL HIER-
ARCHY.

printea b^ 3amea parfcer ani> Co., Crown Hart>, ©rfort.

THE WORKS OF
DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE.

PART II.
THE HEAVENLY HIERARCHY,

AND

TriE ecclesiastical hierarchy.

NOW FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH,
FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK,

BY THE

REV. JOHN PARKER, M.A.

Author -of " Christianity Chronologically Confirmed," &c.

Sames $arfter an* Co.

6 SOUTH AMPTON*STREET, STRAND, LONDON;

AND 27 BROAD-STREET, OXFORD.
1899*

CONTENTS.

DlONYSlUS THE AREOPAGITE AND THE

Alexandrine School . ,

On the Heavenly Hierarchy
On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy .
Appendix i—

Lists of Bishops ,

Apostolic Traditions generally in
abeyance .....

Index

page

V

I

67
163

167
168

TO

THE MEMORY
OF

EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY,

THEOLOGIAN \
OF THE
CHURCH OF BRITAIN.

BOOKS TO BE READ,

1st. "The doctrine of the Lord, through the Twelve
Apostles, to the Gentiles." Spence, Nisbet.

2nd. " The Apostolic Constitutions." Lagarde. Williams
and Norgate, 1862.

3rd. " Coptic Constitutions." Lagarde. Tattam, 1845.

4th. Justin Martyr — for Liturgy.

5th. Hippolitus, " Refutation of all heresies." Duncker.
Gottingen, 1859.

6th. Hierocles on "Golden Verses" of Pythagoras.
Roger Daniel. London, 1654.

7th. "Ecclesiastical History (in Greek) from establish-
ment of the Church to our own time*" By
Professor Kyriakos. Athens, 1898.

8th. "St. Denys, l'Areopagite, premier Eveque de
Paris." Darras, 1863. Vives, Paris.

9th. Gale's " Court of the Gentiles." Hall, Oxon, 1672.

10th. Dexter's Chronicle. Migne, T. 31.

nth. Monuments inedits. Faillon.

DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE

THE ALEXANDRINE SCHOOL.

ALEXANDRIA became the home of Christian
Philosophy, but Athens was its birthplace. Pan-
taenus and Ammonius-Saccus were chief founders
of the Alexandrine School. They were both Chris-
tian. They both drew their teaching from the Word
of God, " the Fountain of Wisdom," and from the
writings of Hierotheus, and Dionysius the Areopa-
gite — Bishops of Athens. For several centuries there
had been a Greek preparation for the Alexandrine
School. As the Old Testament was a Schoolmaster,
leading to Christ, so the Septuagint, Pythagoras,
Plato, Aristobulus, Philo, and Apollos were heralds
who prepared the minds of men for that fulness of
light and truth in Jesus Christ, which, in Alexandria,
clothed itself in the bright robes of Divine Philo-
sophy.

Pantaenus was born in Athens, a.d. 120, and died
in Alexandria, a.d. 213. He was Greek by nation-
ality, and Presbyter of the Church in Alexandria by
vocation. First, Stoic, then Pythagorean, he became
Christian some time before a.d. 186, at which date
he was appointed chief instructor in the Didaskeleion,
b

vi Dionysius the Areopagite

by Demetrius, Bishop of Alexandria. Pantaenus
recognised the preparation for the Christian Faith
in the Greek Philosophy. Anastasius-Sinaita describes
him as " one of the early expositors who agreed with
each other in treating the first six days of Creation
as prophetic of Christ and the whole Church."

Eusebius says, that Pantaenus expounded the
treasures of the Divine dogmas preserved direct,
as from father to son, from St. Paul and other
Apostles. Photius records that Pantaenus was pupil
of those who had seen the Apostles, but that he
certainly had not listened to any of them themr
selves. Now, if Pantaenus was pupil of those who
had seen the Apostles, and yet had not listened
to their oral teaching, it is natural to infer that he
was pupil through their writings. I am a pupil of
Dr. Pusey, but I never listened to his oral teach-
ing ; I am pupil through his writings. Now, there
exist, to this day, the writings of two Presbyters who
had seen the Apostles — both converts to the faith
through St. Paul, — whose writings contain the trea-
sures of the Divine dogmas, received from St. Paul
and the other Apostles. Those two Presbyters are
Hierotheus and Dionysius the Areopagite, both or-
dained Bishop of Athens by St. Paul. Dionysius
the Areopagite expressly calls St. Paul his " chief
initiator," and as such, gives his teaching on the
holy Angels, in the sixth chapter of the Heavenly
Hierarchy ; and frequently describes St. Paul as his
" chief instructor."

If, then, we can prove that the writings of Diony^

and the Alexandrine School vii

sius existed before, and were known in Alexandria,
when Pantaenus delivered his lectures in that city>
we may fairly infer that Pantaenus would know> and
knowing, would use, the writings penned by the
Chief of his own Areopagus, and Bishop of his own
Athens.

Historical criticism does not permit us to reject
probabilities, merely because they confirm the Chris-
tian Faith.

Dexter, in his Chronicle, collected from the
Archives of Toledo and other churches in Spain,
gives this testimony : —

" U.C. 851 (a.d. 98). Dionysius Areopagita dicat
Eugenio Marcello, dicto, propter ingenii excellen-
tiam, Timotheo, libros de Divinis Notninibus."

Dionysius of Alexandria, writing to Pope Sixtus II.,
c. 250, respecting the writings of Dionysius the
Areopagite, affirms "that no one can intelligently
dispute their paternity — that no one penetrated more
profoundly than Dionysius into the mysterious depths
of Holy Scripture — that Dionysius was disciple ot
St. Paul, and piously governed the Church of
Athens." If, then, the Bishops of Alexandria and
Rome exchanged letters only a few years after the
death of Pantaenus, and only seven years after the
death of Ammonius, and in those letters affirmed
the writings to be undoubtedly written by Dionysius
the Areopagite, it would be the height of absurdity
to affirm that such writings were unknown to Pan-
taenus and Ammonius.

But we do not need to base our proof on mere

viii Dionysius the Areopagite

supposition. Routh gives two fragments of Pan-
taenus. The second is a distinct echo of Dionysius.
In Divine Names (c. 7), Dionysius discusses how
Almighty God knows existing things, and explains
the text ; "/fe, knowing all things before their birth"
as proving that " not as learning existing things
from existing things, but from Himself, and in Him-
self, as Cause, the Divine Being pre-holds and pre-
comprehends the notions and essence of all things,
not approaching each several thing according to its
kind, but knowing and containing ail things within
one grasp of the cause. Thus Almighty God knows
existing things, not by a knowledge of existing things,
but by that of Himself." Dionysius, c. V. s. 8,
speaking of creation, declares that the Divine and
good volitions of Almighty God define and produce
existing things.

Pantaenus teaches the same : " Neither does He
know things sensible sensibly (ala-BrjTas), nor things
intelligible intellectually. For it is not possible that
He, Who is above all things, should comprehend
things being, after things being (kotu to. ovto), but we
affirm that He knows things being, as His own
volitions .... yea, as His own volitions, Almighty
God knows things being, since by willing (OtXvv),
He made all things being."

In Mystic Theology, c. V., Dionysius says, " Al-
mighty God does not know existing things, qua exist-
ing." The teaching of Ammonius-Saccus is the same ;
Ammonius uses the word PoCXrjpa, Dionysius and
Pantaenus, BeX^ra, of God, as Source of Creation.

and the Alexandrine School. ix

But, though the known fragments of Pantaenus are
few, we possess abundant writings of two pupils,,
Clement of Alexandria and Origen, from which we
may gather the teaching of their master. Clement
speaks of Pantaenus as his "great instructor and
collaborator." Such is the similarity between the
writings of Clement and Dionysius, that some have
hazarded the conjecture that Clement the Philosopher,
mentioned by Dionysius, was Clement of Alexandria !
I give only one familiar illustration. Clement writes :
"As then, those riding at anchor at sea, drag the
anchor, but do not drag it to themselves, but them-
selves to the anchor, thus those who are drawn to
God in the gnostic life, find themselves unconsciously
led to God." Dionysius, D. N., c. III. s. i, says,
" or, as if after we have embarked on ship, and are
holding on to the cable, attached to some rock, we
do not draw the rock to us, but ourselves, and the
ship, to the rock. Wherefore, before everything, and
especially theology, we must begin with prayer ; not
as though we ourselves were drawing the power,
which is everywhere, and nowhere present, but as,
by our godly reminiscences and invocations, con-
ducting ourselves to, a.nd making ourselves one with
It."

Origen confessed that Pantaenus was his superior
in the philosophy of the schools, and that he moulded
his teaching upon the model of Pantaenus. Do the
writings of Origen bear the stamp of Dionysius and
Hierotheus? Origen, on the resurrection of the
body, says,. " For how doe? it npt seem absurd

x Dionysins the Areopagite

that this body which has endured scars for Christ,
and, equally with the soul, has borne the savage
torments of persecutions, and has also endured the
suffering of chains, and rods, and has been tortured
with fire, beaten with the sword, and has further
suffered the cruel teeth of wild beasts, the gallows
of the cross, and divers kinds of punishments,— that
this should be deprived of the prizes of such contests.
If forsooth, the soul alone, which not alone conten-
ded, should receive the crown, and its companion
the body, which served it with much labour, should
attain no recompense, for its agony and victory, —
how does it not seem contrary to all reason, that
the flesh, resisting for Christ its natural vices, and
its innate lust, and guarding its virginity with im-
mense labour,— that one, when the time for rewards
has come, should be rejected as unworthy and the
other should receive its crown ? Such a fact would
undoubtedly argue on the part of God, either a lack
of justice or a lack of power." Dionysius (E. H.,
c. VII.) says, "Now the pure bodies of the holy
souls, enrolled together as yoke-fellows, and fellow
travellers, which together strove during the divine
contests, throughout the Divine Life, in the unmoved
steadfastness of the souls, will together receive their
own resurrection. For, having been made one with
the holy souls, to which they were united during this
present life, by having become members of Christ,
they will receive in return the godlike and incor-
ruptible immortality and blessed inheritance." Dio-
nysius (D. N., c. VI. s. 2) says, " what is still more

and the Alexandrine School. xi

divine, It promises to transfer our whole selves
(I mean souls and bodies, their yoke-fellows), to
a perfect life and immortality. Others again do
this injustice to bodies, that, after having toiled
with the holy souls, they unjustly deprive them of
the holy retributions, when they have come to the
goal of their most divine course." " For if the man
have passed a life dear to God in soul and body,
the body which has contended throughout the Divine
struggles will be honoured together with the devout
soul."

To shew that Origen knew the works of Hiero-
theus, we give an extract from his letter to Gregory :
" Would that you might both participate in and
continually augment this part, so that you may
not only say, ' we are partakers of Christ,' but also
partakers of God." Papias a , Bishop of Hierapolis
(fragment V.) says, "the Presbyters, the disciples
of the Apostles, say that this is the gradation and
method of those who are saved, and that they
advance through steps of this nature, and that,
moreover, they ascend through the Spirit to the
Son, and through the Son to the Father ; and that,
in due time, the Son will yield up His work to the
Father." Who the Presbyters, the disciples of the
Apostles were, we may gather from the three last
chapters of the " Book of Hierotheus b ," in which
the very same doctrine is taught. Is it not, then,
a legitimate inference, that when Photius says " that

a c. 140. b Br. Mus. (Ad. Rich. 7189).

xii Dionysius the Areopagite

Pantaenus was a pupil of the Presbyters who had seen
the Apostles" he designated Hierotheus and Dionysius
the Areopagite, generally known under that title ?

Ammonius-Saccus was born of Christian parents
in Alexandria, and died in that city, a.d. 242.

Anastasius Sinaita calls him "the Wise," and
Hierocles, "the taught of God." Besides being
famous for his expositions of Holy Scripture, he
wrote the " Diatesseron," or "Harmony of the
Gospels," contained in the Bib. Patrum. In a.d.
236, he wrote the agreement between Moses and
Jesus. He was the great conciliator, who sought
the good in every system, and to make all one in
Christ. Pressense beautifully describes him as a man
who wished to believe and to know — to adore and to
comprehend— to conciliate the Greek Philosophy with
the Mysteries of the East. He wrote a commentary
on the golden verses of Pythagoras, which Hierocles
published, as well as reproduced his other works.
The titles of his books, mentioned by Photius, such
as "Providence" and "Free Will," recall those of
the lost books of Dionysius, of which we have only
a summary in his known works. (Cod. 251 — 214.)

Ammonius was surnamed Saccus from having
been a corn carrier. Virgil, Shakespere, Milton,
were great geniuses in themselves, but when we
know the sources from which they drew, we can
better understand their achievements.

Dionysius was indebted to Hierotheus— Ammonius

and the Alexandrine School. xiii

drew from Dionysius. This we shall shew, not as
we might, by his works as described by Photius, but
from Plotinus, his disciple, in order that we may
have the prevailing proof, to some minds, of testi-
mony not necessarily Christian.

Plotinus was born in Lycopolis, a.d. 205, and died
in Campagna, a.d. 270. At the age of 29, he began
to search for truth, in the schools of Alexandria.
He wandered from teacher to teacher, but could
find no rest until he was persuaded to go and hear
Ammonius-Saccus. After listening to him, he ex-
claimed, " This is what I sought."

Plotinus remained under him eleven years, until
the death of Ammonius, a.d. 242. In a.d. 244,
Plotinus began to teach in Rome. Plotinus was not
a refined scholar. Porphyry, therefore, committed
his teaching to writing. Porphyry was regarded as
the greatest enemy to the Christian Faith in the
early centuries. Persecutors burned the bodies of
Christians, but Porphyry sought to undermine their
faith in the Holy Scriptures, by quibbles of unbelief,
which have been revived to-day as "New Criticism."
Porphyry wrote against the Holy Scriptures with
a bitterness engendered by a conviction of their
truth. Now, it is a startling fact, that though the
teaching of Plotinus comes to us through Porphyry,
there is not a word in the Enneades, in which the
teaching of Plotinus is given, against the Christian
Faith. It is true that Eutochius published another
version of the teaching of Plotinus, on the ground
that his teaching was coloured by Porphyry, but we

xiv Dionysius the Areopagite

prefer to rest our proof on Porphyry, as not being
prejudiced in favour of the truth.

Let us then first see what Plotinus teaches re-
specting the Holy Trinity. He says, "We need
not go beyond the three Hypostaseis " (Persons). It
is true that Plotinus presents that Trinity as "One,"
"Mind," and "Soul," whereas Dionysius gives the
formula " Father, Son, and Spirit." Occasionally
Plotinus uses " Logos " instead of " Mind." But
even this substitution of "One" for "Father" may
be traced to Dionysius, who speaks of the Triad,
evapxiKrj and even ivapxLK&v vTroaTaafav, " One spring-
ing." The " One " represents the Father. Plotinus
says, " We may represent the first principle, ' One,'
as source, which has no other origin than Itself, and
which pours Itself in a multitude of streams without
being diminished by what it gives." Dionysius speaks
of the " Father " as sole source of Godhead, and
says that " the Godhead is undiminished by the gifts
imparted." In Chap. XII. of Divine Names, Dio-
nysius treats of " One " and " Perfect " as applied
to Almighty God.

Let us now hear Plotinus on the " Beautiful "
Enneades (I. 6-7). Plotinus says, "The soul ad-
vances in its ascent towards God, until being raised
above everything alien, it sees face to face, in His
simplicity, and in all His purity, Him upon Whom
all hangs, to Whom all aspire, from Whom all hold
existence, life and thought. What transport of love
must not he feel who sees Him ! with what ardour
ought he not to desire to be united to Him ! He,

and the Alexandrine School. xv

who has not seen Him, desires Him as the Good ;
he who has seen Him, admires Him as the sovereign
Beauty ; and struck at once with astonishment and
pleasure, disdains the things which heretofore he
called by the name of Beauty. This is what
happens to those to whom have appeared the
forms of gods and demons ; — they no longer care
for the beauty of other bodies. What think you,
then, should he experience who has seen the
Beautiful Himself, — the Beautiful surpassing earth
and heaven ! The miserable is not he, who has
neither fresh colour nor comely form, nor power,
nor royalty ; it is alone he, who sees himself ex-
cluded from the possession of Beauty— a possession
in comparison with which he ought to disdain
royalty, rule of the whole earth, of the sea, and
heaven itself, if he should be able, by abandoning,
by despising all these, to rise to the contemplation
of the Beautiful, face to face." Plotinus also re-
cognised, " that the eye soiled with impurity could
never bear the sight, or attain to the vision of that
Beauty. We must render the organs of vision
analogous and like to the object that they would
contemplate. Every man ought to begin by ren-
dering himself beautiful and divine to obtain a vision
of the Beautiful and the Deity." Well might St.
Augustine say, that "with the change of a few
words, Plotinus became concordant with Christ's
religion." No wonder that Gregory and Basil quoted
so largely from Plotinus. Let us now hear what
Dionysius says of the "Good and Beautiful": —

xvi Doinysius the Areopagite

"Goodness turns all things to Itself; all things
aspire to It, as source and bond and end. From
this Beautiful comes being to all existing things.
All things aspire to the Beautiful and Good,— and
there is no existing thing which does not partici-
pate in the Beautiful and Good." Read the Fourth
Chapter of the Divine Names.

Porphyry records that Plotinus attained to that
vision of the Beautiful three times during his life.
How that vision of the Beautiful is to be attained,
Dionysius describes in the " Mystic Theology : "—
"But thou, O dear Timothy, by thy persistent com-
merce with the mystic visions, leave behind both
sensible perceptions and intellectual efforts, and all
objects of sense and intelligence, and all things not
being and being, and be raised aloft agnostically to
the union, as attainable, with Him Who is above
every essence and knowledge. For by unchecked
and absolute extasy, in all purity, from thyself, and
all, thou wilt be carried on high to the superessential
Ray of the Divine Darkness, when thou hast cast
away all and become free from all." Ammonius had
such extasy during his lectures, in which he seemed
to have Divine visions.

Plotinus differs from Dionysius in regarding crea-
tion as an act of necessity, whereas Dionysius regards
it as an act of love. Plotinus treats evil as "an
elongation from God." Dionysius speaks of Al-
mighty God as immanent in matter the most
elongated from spirit. Plotinus traces evil to matter;
Dionysius to the fallacious choice of a free agent.

and the Alexandrine School. xvii

May it not be that the pagan colouring of Porphyry
in these respects led Eutochius to give a more
faithful and consistent account of the teaching of
Plotinus.

But the crowning proof that Dionysius was the
source from which the Alexandrine School drew
much of its wisdom, is Proclus (450 — 485). Suidas
affirmed long ago that Proclus cribbed whole pas-
sages from Dionysius. Professor Stiglmayr fills seven
pages with parallel passages.

. Vacherot describes certain chapters of the "Divine
Names " as extracts from Proclus, word for word,
and says the whole doctrine of Dionysius seems to
be a commentary upon the Theology of Alexandria.
Barthe'lemy St. Hilaire says that Dionysius and
Scotus Erigena, almost entirely implanted, in the
middle age, the doctrine of Neo-Platonism. Matter
is more profound; Professor Langen finds in Diony-
sius the "characteristics of Neo-Platonic speculation."
The similarity of doctrine is denied by none. Which
writings appeared first ? that is the question.

Dexter commemorates the " Divine Names "
a.d. 98°.

Polycarp quotes Dionysius verbatim as " a certain
one." Jerome quotes him as " quidam Graeco-
rum." Dionysius of Alexandria (a.d. 250), writing
to Sixtus II., declares that no one can intelligently
doubt that the writings are those of Dionysius, the
convert of St. Paul, Bishop of Athens.

c From Tabularia of Toledo, a.d. 98.

xviii Diony sius the Areopagite

Tertullian expresses the Agnosia "nihil scire
omnia scire." Origen quotes him by name. Theo-
dore (a.d. 420) answers objections, — whom Photius
approved. Gregory calls Dionysius "an ancient and
venerable Father." The Second Council of Nicea
quotes the very words contained in the "Eccle-
siastical Hierarchy," c. I. s. 4, as those of the great
Dionysius. Bishop Pearson proves that the best
judges in the sixth, fifth, fourth and third centuries
regarded the writings as written by Dionysius the
Areopagite. German scholars to-day admit that the
external testimony is in favour of their genuineness.

Yet eccentric critics, on account of the precise
theology, cannot believe that the works were written
by a learned Greek, — Chief of the Areopagus— who
forsook all to follow Christ, — the convert and dis-
ciple of St. Paul, — the familiar friend of St. John
and other Apostles, to whom our Saviour revealed
the mysteries of the Father ; but those critics can
believe that an unknown man, whose century no one
can fix, and possibly a Syrian, may have gleaned
from writers of the first four centuries these theo-
logical pearls expressed in Greek in a style unique
and always .like itself. They can believe that the
Author of these Divine writings would incorporate
fictitious allusions to persons and events of the
apostolic age, to add lustre to incomparable works,
and to impute them to another. They can believe
that writings, so composed) were foisted upon a
credulous Christendom, so that Dionysius of Alex-
andria, Maximus, St. John Damascene^ and the

and the Alexandrine School. xix

Council of Nicea, accepted them as the genuine
works of Dionysius. I do not belong to that school.
Only unbelief could believe anything so incredible.
Rational men will not hazard the surmise that works
known in the first century were gleaned from writings
composed four hundred years afterwards.

The tone of the Alexandrine School may be
further illustrated from Amelius and Dionysius the
Sublime. Amelius attended Plotinus twenty-four
years as companion and pupil. Eusebius gives an
extract from his writings, in which Amelius says,
" This plainly was the Word, by Whom, being Eter-
nal, things becoming became, as Heraclitus would
say." It was probably he who said, " the Prologue
of St. John's Gospel ought to be written in gold,
and placed in the most conspicuous place in every
church." De Civ. Dei, LX. c. 29. Dionysius, the
famous secretary of Zenobia, attended the lectures
of Arnmonius-Saccus. He was the "arbiter" of all
literary questions. He expresses his admiration,
De sub. L. 9, of the diction of Moses in the de-
scription of the six days' creation, and numbers
St. Paul amongst the most brilliant Greek orators,
as a man who propounded a "dogma beyond demon-
stration."

We claim that the testimony of these illustrious
men, and the extracts from Pantaenus, Ammonius,
and their disciples, justify the conclusion that the
Alexandrine School was Biblical, Christian, and
Philosophical, that its Philosophy was a Divine

xx Dionysius the Areopagite, C°r>c.

Philosophy of the Faith, not a pagan philosophy
against the Faith, and that the main sources of its
Divine Philosophy were the writings of Hierotheus
and Dionysius, Bishops of Athens.

JOHN PARKER.
Cannes,
Epiphany, 1899.

For sketch of Life, Internal Evidence of date, and External
Testimony to genuineness during first nine centuries, see
" Celestial and Ecclesiastical Hierarchy." (Skeffington,
2s. 6<f.)

DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE

ON THE

HEAVENLY HIERARCHY.

CAPUT I.

To my Fellow Presbyter Timothy a .

Dionysius the Presbyter.

That every divine illumination, whilst going forth
lovingly to the objects of its forethought under
various forms, remains si?nplex. Nor is this all.
It also unifies the things illuminated.

Section I.

" Every good gift b and every perfect gift Is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights."

Further also, every procession of illuminating light,

proceeding from the Father, whilst visiting us as a

gift of goodness, restores us again gradually as an

unifying power, and turns us to the oneness of our

conducting Father, and to a deifying simplicity. For c

all things are from Him, and to Him, as said the

Sacred Word.

Section II.

Invoking then Jesus, the Paternal Light, the Real,
the True, "which lighteth d every man coming into

* I Pet v. I. b James i. 17. c Rom. xi. 36.

d John i. 9

B

2 Dionysius the Areopagite

the world," " through e Whom we have access to the
Father," Source of Light, let us aspire, as far as is
attainable, to the illuminations handed down by our
fathers in the most sacred Oracles, and let us gaze,
as we may, upon the Hierarchies of the Heavenly
Minds manifested by them symbolically for our in-
struction. And when we have received, with im-
material and unflinching mental f eyes, the gift of
Light, primal and super-primal, of the supremely Di-
vine Father, which manifests to us the most blessed
Hierarchies of the Angels in types and symbols, let
us then, from it, be elevated to its simple splendour?.
For it never loses its own unique inwardness, but
multiplied and going forth, as becomes its goodness,
for an elevating and unifying blending of the objects
of its care, remains firmly and solitarily centred within
itself in its unmoved sameness ; and raises, accord-
ing to their capacity, those who lawfully aspire to it,
and makes them one, after the example of its own
unifying Oneness. For it is not possible that the
supremely Divine Ray should otherwise illuminate
us, except so far as it is enveloped, for the purpose of**
instruction, in variegated sacred veils, and arranged
naturally and appropriately, for such as we are, by
paternal forethought.

Section III.
Wherefore, the Divine Institution of sacred Rites,
having deemed it worthy of the supermundane imi-

« Rom. v. 2. f Syr. Doc. p. 61, Clark.

* Plato Rep. 6, 7— II, 1 2 1— 126. Read Allegory of Cave.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 3

tation of the Heavenly Hierarchies, and having de-
picted the aforesaid immaterial Hierarchies in ma-
terial figures and bodily compositions, in order that
we might be borne, as far as our capacity permits,
from the most sacred pictures to the instructions
and similitudes without symbol and without type,
transmitted to us our most Holy Hierarchy. For \
it is not possible for our mind to be raised to that
immaterial representation and contemplation of the
Heavenly Hierarchies, without using the material
guidance suitable to itself, accounting the visible 11
beauties as reflections of the invisible comeliness/'
and the sweet 1 odours of the senses as emblems of
the spiritual distribution; and the material k lights
as a likeness of the gift of the immaterial enlighten-
ment ; and the detailed sacred instructions l , of the
feast of contemplation within the mind j and the
ranks m of the orders here, of the harmonious and
regulated habit, with regard to Divine things; and
the reception of the most Divine Eucharist, of the
partaking of Jesus, and whatever other things were
transmitted to Heavenly Beings supermundanely, but
to us symbolically.

For the sake, then, of this our proportioned deifi-
cation, the philanthropic Source of sacred mysteries,
by manifesting the Heavenly Hierarchies to us,
and constituting our Hierarchy as fellow-ministers
with them, through our imitation of their Godlike

t p s . xix. ' Num. xv. 3. k Luke ii. 9.

1 John vii. 14. m Rom. xiii. I, 2, ■ I Cor. x. 16.

4 Dionysius the Areopagite

priestliness , so far as in us lies, described under
sensible likeness the supercelestial Minds, in the
inspired compositions of the Oracles, in order that
It might lead us through the sensible to the intel-
ligible p , and from inspired symbols to the simple {-
sublimities of the Heavenly Hierarchies.

CAPUT II.

That Divine and Heavenly things are appropriately
revealed, even through dissimilar symbols.

Section I.
It is necessary then, as I think, first to set forth
what we think is the purpose of every Hierarchy,
and what benefit each one confers upon its followers;
and next to celebrate the Heavenly Hierarchies ac-
cording to their revelation in the Oracles ; then fol-
lowing these Oracles, to say in what sacred forms
the holy writings of the Oracles depict the celestial
orders, and to what sort of simplicity we must be
carried through the representations ; in order that we
also may not, like the vulgar, irreverently think that
the heavenly and Godlike minds are certain many-
footed * and many-faced r creatures, or moulded to
the brutishness of oxen 8 , or the savage form of lions \
and fashioned like the hooked beaks of eagles u , or
the feathery down of birds 1 , and should imagine that
there are certain wheels J of fire above the heaven,

° i Pet ii. 9. p „oVo. * Ezek. i. 7. • Ibid. i. 6.

• Ibid. i. 10. * Ibid. » Ibid. * Ibid. i. 6-8.

y Dan. vii. 9.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. r

or material thrones 2 upon which the Godhead may
recline, or certain many-coloured a horses, and spear-
bearing leaders of the host b , and whatever else was
transmitted by the Oracles to us under multifarious
symbols of sacred imagery.

And indeed, the Word of God e artlessly makes
use of poetic representations of sacred things, re-
specting the shapeless minds, out of regard to' our
intelligence, so to speak, consulting a mode of edu-
cation proper and natural to it, and moulding the
inspired writings for it.

Section II.
But if any one think well to accept the sacred com-
positions as of things simple and unknown in their
own nature, and beyond our contemplation, but
thinks the imagery of the holy minds in the Oracles
is incongruous, and that all this is, so to speak, a
•rude scenic representation of the angelic names;
and further says that the theologians ought, when
they have come to the bodily representation of crea-'
tures altogether without body, to represent and dis- ;
play them by appropriate and, as far as possible,
cognate figures, taken, at any rate, from our most
honoured and immaterial and exalted beings, and
ought not to clothe the heavenly and Godlike simple
essences with the many forms of the lowest creatures
to be found on the earth (for the one would perhaps
be more adapted to our instruction, and would not

* Dan. vii. 9. • Zech. i. 8. b j oshua v# ^ ^ .

2 Mace. iii. 25. « QeoXoyia.

6 Dionysius the Areopagite

degrade the celestial explanations to incongruous
dissimilitudes; but the other both does violence
without authority to the Divine powers, and likewise
leads astray our minds, through dwelling upon these
irreverent descriptions) ; and perhaps he will also
think that the super-heavenly places are filled with
certain herds of lions, and troops of horses, and bel-
lowing songs of praise, and flocks of birds, and other
living creatures, and material and less honourable
things, and whatever else the similitudes of the
1/ Oracles, in every respect dissimilar, describe, for
a so-called explanation, but which verge towards the
absurd, and pernicious, and impassioned; now, in my
opinion, the investigation of the truth demonstrates
the most sacred wisdom of the Oracles, in the de-
scriptions of the Heavenly Minds, taking forethought,
as that wisdom does, wholly for each, so as neither,
as one may say, to do violence to the Divine Powers,
nor at the same time to enthral us in the grovelling
passions of the debased imagery. For any one might
say that the cause why forms are naturally attributed
to the formless, and shapes to the shapeless, is not
alone our capacity which is unable immediately to
elevate itself to the intelligible contemplations, and
that it needs appropriate and cognate instructions
which present images, suitable to us, of the formless
and supernatural objects of contemplation ; but fur-
ther, that it is most agreeable to the revealing Oracles
to conceal, through mystical and sacred enigmas,
and to keep the holy and secret truth respecting the
supermundane minds inaccessible to the multitude.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 7

For it is not every one that is holy, nor, as the Ora-
cles affirm, does knowledge belong to all d .

Section III.

But if any one should blame the descriptions as
being incongruous, by saying that it is shameful to
attribute shapes so repugnant to the Godlike and
most holy Orders, it is enough to reply that the
method of Divine revelation is twofold ; one, in-
deed, as is natural, proceeding through likenesses
that are similar, and of a sacred character, but the
other, through dissimilar forms, fashioning them into
entire unlikeness and incongruity. No doubt, the
mystical traditions of the revealing Oracles some-
times extol the august Blessedness of the super-
essential Godhead, as Word e , and Mind f , and Es-
sence g , manifesting its God-becoming expression and
wisdom, both as really being Origin, and true Cause
of the origin of things being, and they describe It as
light h , and call it life. While such sacred descrip-
tions are more reverent, and seem in a certain way
to be superior to the material images, they yet, even
thus, in reality fall short of the supremely Divine simili-
tude. For It is above every essence and life. No light,
indeed, expresses its character, and every description
and mind incomparably fall short of Its similitude.

But at other times its praises are supermundanely
sung, by the Oracles themselves, through dissimilar
revelations, when they affirm that it is invisible 1 , and

-' i Cor. viii. 7. e John i. I. f Ps. cxxxvi. 5.

s Exod. iii. 14. h John i. 4. l I Tim. vi. 16.

/

8 Dionysius the Areopagite

infinite 1 , and incomprehensible '; and when there is
signified, not what it is, but what it is not. For this,
as I think, is more appropriate to It, since, as the
secret and sacerdotal tradition taught, we rightly de-
scribe its non-relationship to things created, but we
do not know its superessential, and inconceivable,
and unutterable indefinability. If, then, the nega-
tions respecting things Divine are true, but t he afTlr -
mations are inharmonious, the revelation as regards
things invisible, through dissimilar representations, is
more appropriate to the hiddenness of things unutter-
able. Thus the sacred descriptions of the Oracles
'honour, and do not expose to shame, the Heavenly
Orders, when they make them known by dissimilar
pictorial forms, and demonstrate through these their
supermundane superiority over all material things.
And I do not suppose that any sensible man will
gainsay that the incongruous elevate our mind more
than the similitudes ; for there is a likelihood, with
regard to the more sublime representations of heaven-
ly things, that we should be led astray, so as to think
that the Heavenly Beings are certain creatures with
the appearance of gold, and certain men with the
appearance of light" 1 , and glittering like lightning",
handsome °, clothed in bright shining raiment, shed-
ding forth innocuous flame, and so with regard to all
the other shapes and appropriate forms, with which
the Word of God has depicted the Heavenly Minds.
In order that men might not suffer from this, by

k Ps. cxlv. 13. 1 Rom. x i. 33 . ; j er . h. , s .

■ Acts i. 10. » Matt, xxviii. 3. • Acts vi. 15.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. g

thinking they are nothing more exalted than their beau-
tiful appearance, the elevating wisdom of the pious
theologians reverently conducts to the incongruous
dissimilarities, not permitting our earthly part to rest
fixed in the base images, but urging the upward
tendency of the soul, and goading it by the unseem-
liness of the phrases (to see) that it belongs neither
to lawful nor seeming truth, even for the most
earthly conceptions, that the most heavenly and
Divine visions are actually like things so base.
Further also this must particularly be borne in mind,
that not even one of the things existing is altogether
deprived of participation in the beautiful, since, as
is evident and the truth of the Oracles affirms, all
things are very beautiful p.

Section IV.
It is, then, possible to frame in one's mind good
contemplations from everything, and to depict, from
things material, the aforesaid dissimilar similitudes,
both for the intelligible and the intelligent; since
the intelligent hold in a different fashion things
which are attributed to things sensible differently.
For instance, appetite, in the irrational creatures, takes
its rise in the passions, and their movement, which
takes the form of appetite,, is full of all kinds of
unreasonableness. But with regard to the intelli-
gent, we must think of the appetite in another
fashion, as denoting, according to my judgment,
their manly style, and their determined persistence.
p Gen. i. 31.

io Dionysius the Areopagitc

in their Godlike and unchangeable steadfastness.
In like manner we say, with regard to the irrational
creatures, that lust is a certain uncircumspect and
earthly passionate attachment, arising incontinently
from an innate movement, or intimacy in things
subject to change, and the irrational supremacy of
the bodily desire, which drives the whole organism
towards the object of sensual inclination. But when
we attribute "lust" to spiritual beings, by clothing
them with dissimilar similitudes, we must think that
it is a Divine love of the immaterial, above ex-
pression and thought, and the inflexible and deter-
mined longing for the supernally pure and passionless
contemplation, and for the really perpetual and
intelligible fellowship in that pure and most exalted
splendour, and in the abiding and beautifying come-
liness. And 'incontinence' we may take for the
persistent and inflexible, which nothing can repulse,
on account of the pure and changeless love for the
Divine beauty, and the whole tendency towards the
really desired. But with regard to the irrational
living beings, or soulless matter, we appropriately
call their irrationality and want of sensible percep-
tion a deprivation of reason and sensible perception.
And with regard to the immaterial and intelligent
beings, we reverently acknowledge their superiority,
as supermundane beings, over our discursive and
bodily reason, and the material perception of the
senses which is alien to the incorporeal Minds. It
is, then, permissible to depict forms, which are not
discordant, to the celestial beings, even from por-

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 1 1

tions of matter which are the least honourable, since
even it, having had its beginning from the Essentially
Beautiful, has throughout the whole range of matter
some echoes of the intellectual comeliness; and it
is possible through these to be led to the imma-
terial archetypes — things most similar being taken,
as has been said, dissimilarly, and the identities being
defined, not in the same way, but harmoniously, and
appropriately, as regards the intellectual and sensible
beings.

Section V.

We shall find the Mystic Theologians enfolding
these things not only around the illustrations of
the Heavenly Orders, but also, sometimes, around
the supremely Divine Revelations Themselves. At
one time, indeed, they extol It under exalted ima-
gery as Sun 9 of Righteousness, as Morning' Star
rising divinely in the mind, and as Light* illuming
without veil and for contemplation; and at other
times, through things in our midst, as Fire ', shedding
its innocuous light; as Water", furnishing a fulness
of life, and, to speak symbolically, flowing into a belly,
and bubbling forth rivers flowing irresistibly ; and
at other times, from things most remote, as sweet-
smelling ointment 1 , as Head Corner-stone 7 . But
they also clothe It in forms of wild beasts, and attach
to It identity with a Lion % and Panther a , and say that
it shall be a Leopard b , and a rushing Bear c . But,

*» Mai. iv. 2. r Num. xxiv. 17 ; 2 Pet. i. 19. ■ John i. 5.
1 Exod.iii. 2. u John vii. 38. x Cant. i. 2. 1 Eph. ii. 20.
» Iloi. xiii. 8. * Ibid. 7. b Ibid. 8. c ibid.

12 Dionysius the Areopagite

I will also add, that which seems to be more dis-
honourable than all, and the most incongruous, viz.
that distinguished theologians have shewn it to us
as representing Itself under the form of a worm d .
Thus do all the godly-wise, and interpreters of the
secret inspiration, separate the holy of holies e from
the uninitiated and the unholy, to keep them un-
defined, and prefer the dissimilar description of
holy things, so that Divine things should neither
be easily reached by the profane, nor those who
diligently contemplate the Divine imagery rest in
the types as though they were true* and so Divine
things should be honoured by th/ true negations,
and by comparisons with the lowest things, which
are diverse from their proper resemblance. There is
then nothing absurd if they depict even the Heavenly
Beings under incongruous dissimilar similitudes, for
causes aforesaid. For probably not even we should
have come to an investigation, from not seeing our
way, — not to say to mystic meaning through an
^ accurate enquiry into Divine things,— unless the
deformity of the descriptions representing the Angels
had shocked us, not permitting our mind to linger
in the discordant representations, but rousing us
utterly to reject the earthly proclivities, and accus-
toming us to elevate ourselves through things that
are seen, to their supermundane mystical meanings.
Let these things suffice to have been said on account
of the material and incongruous descriptions of the
holy Angels in the Holy Oracles. And next, it is

d Ps. xxii. 6. e £7*0 ruv ayiwv.

on the Heavenly HierarcJiy. 13

necessary to define what we think the Hierarchy is
in itself, and what benefit those who possess a
Hierarchy derive from the same. But let Christ
lead the discourse— if it be lawful to me to say— He
Who is mine,— the Inspiration of all Hierarchical
revelation. And thou, my son, after the pious rule
of our Hierarchical tradition, do thou religiously
listen to things religiously uttered, becoming inspired
through instruction in inspired things; and when
thou hast enfolded the Divine things in the secret
recesses of thy mind, guard them closely from the /
profane multitude as being uniform, for it is not
lawful, as the Oracles say, to cast to swine the
unsullied and bright and beautifying comeliness of

the intelligible pearls.

♦

CAPUT III.

What is Hierarchy ? and what the use of Hierarchy ?
Section I.
Hierarchy is, in my judgment, a sacred order
and science and operation, assimilated, as far as
attainable, to the likeness of God, and conducted
to the illuminations granted to it from God, ac-
cording to capacity, with a view to the Divine imi-
tation. Now the God-becoming Beauty, as simple,
as good, as source of initiation, is altogether free
from any dissimilarity, and imparts its own proper
light to each according to their fitness, and perfects
in most Divine initiation, as becomes the undeviat-
ing moulding of those who are being initiated har-
moniously to itself.

14 Dionysius the Areopagite

Section II.
The purpose, then, of Hierarchy is the assimila-,(.
tion and union, as far as attainable, with God, hav-
ing Him Leader of all religious science and opera-
tion, by looking unflinchingly to His most Divine
comeliness, and copying, as far as possible, and by < c-
perfecting its own followers as Divine images, mirrors
most luminous and without flaw, receptive oT*the
primal light and the supremely Divine ray, and de-
voutly filled with the entrusted radiance, and again.
spreading this radiance ungrudgingly to those after
it, in accordance with the supremely Divine regu- "
lations. For it is not lawful for the Mystic Rites
of sacred things, or for things religiously done, to
practise anything whatever beyond the sacred regu-
lations of their own proper function. Nor even must
they attempt otherwise, if they desire to attain its
deifying splendour, and look to it religiously, and
are moulded after the example of each of the holy
minds. He, then, who mentions Hierarchy, denotes
a certain altogether Holy Order, an image of the su-
premely Divine freshness, ministering the mysteries
of its own illumination in hierarchical ranks, and
sciences, and assimilated to its own proper Head
as far as lawful.

For each of those who have been called into the
Hierarchy, find their perfection in being carried to ^
the Divine imitation f in their own proper degree;
and, what is more Divine than all, in becoming a

f Eph. v. i.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 15

fellow-worker b with God, as the Oracles say, and
in shewing the Divine energy in himself manifested
as far as possible, f For it is an Hierarchical regu-
lation that some are purified and that others purify' 1 ;
that some are enlightened and others enlighten 1 ;
that some are perfected and others perfect; the
Divine imitation will fit each one in this fashion.
The Divine blessedness, to speak after the manner
of men, is indeed unstained by any dissimilarity k ,
and is full of invisible light 1 — perfect™, and needing
no perfection ; cleansing, illuminating, and perfect-
ing, yea, rather a holy purification, and illumination,
and perfection — above purification, above light, pre-
eminently perfect, self-perfect source and cause of
every Hierarchy, and elevated pre-eminently above
every holy thing.

Section III.
It is necessary then, as I think, that those who
are being purified should be entirely perfected, with-
out stain, and be freed from all dissimilar confusion;
that those who are being illuminated should be filled
with the Divine Light, conducted to the habit and
faculty of contemplation in all purity of mind ; that
those who are being initiated should be separated
from the imperfect, and become recipients of that
perfecting science of the sacred things contemplated.
Further, that those who purify should impart, from
their own abundance of purity, their own proper holi-
ness ; that those who illuminate, as being more

* I Cor. iii. 9. h Ps. li. 9. 5 Ibid. cxix. 18.

k Deut. vi. 4. ' John xii. 46. ■ ■ Matt. v. 48.

1 6 Dionysius the Areopagite

luminous intelligences, whose function it is to re-
ceive and to impart light, and who are joyfully filled
with holy gladness, that these should overflow, in pro-
portion to their own overflowing light, towards those
who are worthy of enlightenment ; and that those
who make perfect, as being skilled in the impartation
of perfection, should perfect those being perfected,
through the holy instruction, in the science of the
holy things contemplated. Thus each rank of the
Hierarchical Order is led, in its own degree, to the
Divine co-operation, by performing, through grace
and God-given power, those things which are natur-
ally and supernaturally in the Godhead, and accom-
plished by It superessentially, and manifested hier-
archically, for the attainable imitation of the God-
loving Minds n .

CAPUT IV.
What is meant by the appellation " Angels ? "
Section I.
Now that the Hierarchy itself has been, in my
judgment, sufficiently defined, we must next extol
the Angelic Hierarchy, and we must contemplate,
with supermundane eyes, its sacred formations, de-
picted in the Oracles, in order that we may be borne
aloft to their Divinely resplendent simplicity, through
the mystic representations, and may extol the source
of all Hierarchical science with God-becoming rever-
ence and with thanksgivings. First of all, however,
• The Holy Angels.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. i y

let this truth be spoken -that it was through good-
ness that the superessential Godhead, having fixed
all the essences of things being, brought them into
being. For this is the peculiar characteristic of the
Cause of all things, and of goodness surpassing all,
to call things being to participation of Itself, as each
order of things being was determined from its own
analogy. For all things being share in a Providence,
which bubbles forth from the superessential Deity,
Cause of all things. For they would not be, unless
they had participated in the Essence and Origin of
things being. All things then, without life, participate
in It by their being. For the being of all things is
the Deity, above being ; things living participate in
its life-giving power, above all life; things rational
and intellectual participate in its self-perfect and pre-
eminently perfect wisdom, above all reason and mind.
It is evident, then, that all those Beings are around
It, which have participated in It, in many forms.

Section II.
The holy orders, then, of the Heavenly Beings
share in the supremely Divine participation, in a
higher degree than things which merely exist, or
which lead an irrational life, or which are rational
like ourselves. For by moulding themselves intel-
ligibly to the Divine imitation, and looking super-
mundanely to the supremely Divine likeness, and
striving to mould their intellectual appearance, they
naturally have more ungrudging communications with
It, being near and ever moving upwards, as far as-

1

l8 Dionysius the Areopagite

lawful, elevating themselves with the intensity of the
Divine unswerving love, and receiving the primal
illuminations without earthly stain, and ranging them-
selves to these, and having their whole life intel-
lectual. These, then, are they who, at first hand,
and under many forms, participate in the Divine,
and, at first hand, and under many fonns, make
known the supremely Divine Hiddenness. Where-
fore, beyond all, they are deemed pre-eminently worthy
of the appellation Angelic, on the ground that the
supremely Divine illumination comes to them at
/ first hand, and, through them, there pass to us mani-
festations above us. Thus, then, the Law, as the
Word of God affirms, was given to us through the
ministration of Angels ° ; and Angels led our illus-
trious fathers p before the Law, and after the Law,
to the Divine Being, either by leading * them to what
was to be done, and by converting them from error,
and an unholy life, to the straight way of truth r , or
by making known to them sacred ordinances 8 , or
hidden visions, or supermundane mysteries*, or cer-
tain Divine predictions through the Prophets u .

Section III.

But if any one should say that Divine manifes-
tations were made directly and immediately to some
holy men x , let him learn, and that distinctly, from
the most Holy Oracles, that no one hath seen, nor

° Gal. iii. 18. p Acts vii. 53. 1 Gen. xxii. 12.

' Acts x. 3. . Dan. vii. 16. * Ibid. 10.

■ 2 Cor. xii. 2. x Matt. ii. 13.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. I9

ever shall see, the " hidden " rb Kp <,cf>iop of Almighty
God as it is in itself y. Now Divine manifestations
were made to the pious as befits revelations of God,
that is to say, through certain holy visions analogous
to those who see them. Now the all-wise Word of
God (Theologia) naturally calls Theophany that par-
ticular vision which manifests the Divine similitude
depicted in itself as in a shaping of the shapeless,
from the elevation of the beholders to the Divine
Being, since through it a divine illumination comes
to the beholders, and the divine persons themselves
are religiously initiated into some mystery. But
our illustrious fathers were initiated into these Divine
visions, through the mediation of the Heavenly Powers.
Does not the tradition of the Oracles describe the
holy legislation of the Law, given to Moses, as
coming straight from God, in order that it may
teach us this truth, that it is an outline of a Divine
and holy legislation ? But the Word of God, in its
Wisdom, teaches this also— that it came to us
through Angels, as though the Divine regulation
were laying down this rule, that, through the first,
the second are brought to the Divine Being. For
not only with regard to the superior and inferior
minds, but even for those of the same rank, this
Law has been established by the superessential
supreme ordinance, that, within each Hierarchy,
there are first, and middle, and last ranks and
powers, and that the more divine are instructors

7 John i. 18 ; i John iv. 12 ; 1 Tim. vi. 16.

so Dionysius the Areopagite

and conductors of the less, to the Divine access,
and illumination, and participation.

Section IV.
But I observe that Angels first were initiated in the
Divine mystery of the love of Jesus towards man, then,
through them, the gift of its knowledge passed to us.
Thus, for example, the most divine Gabriel instructed
Zachariah 2 , the Hierarch, that the son who was to be
born to him, beyond hope, by Divine grace, should
be a prophet of the a God-incarnate work of the
Lord Jesus, to be manifested to the world for its
salvation, as becomes the Divine goodness ; and
he revealed to Mary b , how, in her, should be born
the supremely Divine mystery of the unutterable God-
formation. Yet another Angel instructed Joseph ,
how, in very truth, should be fulfilled the things
Divinely promised to his ancestor David. Another
declared glad tidings to the shepherds d , as being
purified by their separation from the multitude, and
their quiet life, and, with him, a multitude of the
Heavenly Host announced to those on earth that
often-sung doxology. Let us then ascend to the'
highest manifestations of light contained in the
Oracles, for I perceive that even Jesus himself e ,
the superessential Cause of the super-heavenly Beings,
J when He had come to our condition, without change f ,
did not overstep che good order which becomes'

Luke l. II — 20. ' avdpiKTJs rov 'irjtroC deovpyias.

b Luke i. 26-38. c Matt. i. 20—23. d Luke ii. 8 — 14.

Phil. ii. 6 — 8. f irpbs rb KaQ' ^aas a/ueraj9oA.a>s.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 2 1

mankind, which Himself arranged and took, but
readily subjected Himself to the dispositions of the
Father and God, through Angels; and, through
their mediation, was announced to Joseph the de-
parture of the Son to Egypt s, which had been
arranged by the Father, and again the return to
Judaea h from Egypt. And through Angels we see
Him subjecting Himself to the Father's decrees.
For I forbear to speak, as addressing one who
knows the teaching of our hierarchical tradition,
both concerning the Angel* who strengthened the
Lord Jesus, or that even Jesus Himself, when He
had come to manifest the good work of our bene-
ficent salvation, was called k Angel l of Great Coun-
sel. For, as He Himself says, after the manner
of an Angel, "Whatsoever He heard from the Father,
He announced to us m ."

CAPUT V.

For what reason all the Heavenly Beings are called,
in conwwn, Angels.

This, then, in our judgment, is the reason for
the appellation Angelic in the Oracles. We must
now, I suppose, enquire for what reason the theo-
logians call all n the Heavenly Beings together " An-
gels;" but when they come to a more accurate

« Matt. ii. 13. »> Ibid. 19, 20. * Luke xxii. 43.

k C. ii. 30. l Isa. ix. 6. m John xv. 15. n Ps. ciii. 20 ;
Matt. xxv. 31.

2 2 Dionysius the Areopagite

description of the supermundane orders, they name
exclusively, "angelic rank," that which completes
k/ the full tale of the Divine and Heavenly Hosts.
• Before this, however, they range pre-eminently, the
Orders of Archangels, and the Principalities, the
Authorities, and Powers, and as many Beings as
the revealing traditions of the Oracles recognize as
superior to them °. Now, we affirm that throughout
every sacred ordinance the superior ranks possess
the illuminations and powers of their subordinates,
but the lowest have not the same powers as those
who are above them. The theologians also call
the most holy ranks of the highest Beings " Angels,"
for they also make known the supremely Divine
illumination. But there is no reason to call the
lowest rank of the celestial Minds, Principalities,
or Thrones, or Seraphim. For it does not possess
the highest powers, but, as it conducts our inspired
Hierarchs to the splendours of the Godhead known
to it; so also, the saintly powers of the Beings
above it are conductors, towards the Divine Being,
of that Order which completes the Angelic Hier-
archies. Except perhaps some one might say this
also, that all the angelic appellations are common, as
regards the subordinate and superior communication
of all the celestial powers towards the Divine like-
ness, and the gift of light from God. But, in order
that the question may be better investigated, let
us reverently examine the saintly characteristics set
forth respecting each celestial Order in the Oracles.
• Isa. vi. 2.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 23

CAPUT VI.

Which is the first Order of the Heavenly Beings ?
which the middle ? and which the last ?

How many, and of what sort, are the Orders of
the supercelestial Beings, and how the Hierarchies
are classified* amongst themselves, I affirm, the
deifying Author of their consecration alone distinctly
knows ; and further, that they know their own pro-
per powers and illuminations, and their sacred and
supermundane regularity. For it is impossible that
we should know the mysteries of the supercelestial
Minds and their most holy perfections, except, some
one might say, so far as the Godhead has revealed
to us, through them, as knowing perfectly their own
condition. We, then, will utter nothing as from
ourselves, but whatever angelic visions have been
gazed upon by the holy Prophets of God, we, as
initiated in these, will set forth as best we can.
The Word of God has designated the whole Heavenly
Beings as nine, by appellations, which shew their
functions. These our Divine Initiator divides into
three threefold Orders. He also says that that
which is always around God is first, and is declared
by tradition to be united closely and immediately
to Him, before all the rest. For he says that the
teaching of the Holy Oracles declares, that the most
Holy Thrones, and the many-eyed <* and many-
winged 1 ' hosts, named in the Hebrew tongue Cheru-
bim 8 and Seraphim 6 , are established immediately

p reKovvrai. 1 Ezek. i. 18. * Ibid. 6.

■ Ibid. x. l Isa. vi. 2.

2 4 Dionysius the Areopagite

around God, with a nearness superior to all. This
threefold order, then, our illustrious Guide spoke
of as one, and of equal rank, and really first
Hierarchy, than which there is" not another more
Godlike or immediately nearer to the earliest illu-
minations of the Godhead. But he says that which
is composed of the Authorities, and Lordships, and
Powers is second; and, as respects the lowest of
the Heavenly Hierarchies, the Order of the Angels
and Archangels and Principalities is third.

CAPUT VII.

Concerning the Seraphim and Cherubim and Thrones,
and concerning their first Hierarchy.

Section I.
We, whilst admitting this as the arrangement of
the holy Hierarchies, affirm, that every appellation of
the celestial Minds denotes the Godlike characteristic
of each ; and those who know Hebrew affirm, that
the holy designation of the Seraphim denotes either
that they are kindling or burning; and that of Che-
rubim, a fulness of knowledge or stream of wisdom.
Naturally, then, the first (order) of the Heavenly
Hierarchies is ministered" by the most exalted
Beings, holding, as it does, a rank which is higher
than all, from the fact, that it is established imme-
diately around God, and that the first-wrought Di-
vine manifestations and perfections pass earlier to

lepovyetrcu.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 2 $

it, as being nearest. They are called, then, " Burn-
ing," and Thrones, and Stream of Wisdom by a

name which sets forth their Godlike conditions.
The appellation of Seraphim plainly teaches their
ever moving around things Divine, and constancy,
and warmth, and keenness, and the seething of that
persistent, indomitable, and inflexible perpetual mo-
tion, and the vigorous assimilation and elevation of
the subordinate, as giving new life and rekindling
them to the same heat; and purifying through fire
and burnt-offering, and the light-like and light-shed-
ding characteristic which can never be concealed or
consumed, and remains always the same, which de-
stroys and dispels every kind of obscure darkness.
But the appellation of the Cherubim denotes their
knowledge and their vision of God, and their readi-
ness to receive the highest gift of light, and their
power of contemplating the super-Divine comeliness
in its first revealed power, and their being filled
anew with the impartation which maketh wise, and
their ungrudging communication to those next to
them, by the stream of the given wisdom. The
appellation of the most exalted and pre-eminent
Thrones denotes their manifest exaltation above
every grovelling inferiority, and their supermundane
tendency towards higher things ; and their unswerv-
ing separation from all remoteness; and their in-
variable and firmly-fixed settlement around the verit-
able Highest, with the whole force of their powers ;
and their receptivity of the supremely Divine ap-
proach, in the absence of all passion and earthly

26 Dionysius the Areopagite

tendency, and their bearing God; and the ardent
expansion of themselves for the Divine receptions.

Section II.
This then, is the revelation of their names, so
far as we can give it ; and we ought to say what we
think their Hierarchy is. For I suppose we have
sufficiently shewn above, that the purpose of every
Hierarchy is an unswerving devotion to the divine
imitation of the Divine Likeness, and that every
Hierarchical function is set apart for the sacred re-
ception and distribution of an undefiled purification,
and Divine Light, and perfecting science.

And now I pray that I may speak worthily of the
most exalted Minds-how the Hierarchy amongst
them is exhibited through the Oracles.
' One must consider, then, that the Hierarchy is
akin, and in every respect like, to the first Beings,
who are established after the Godhead, who gave
them Being, and who are marshalled, as it were, in
Its very vestibule, who surpass every unseen and
seen created power. We must then regarfthem as
pure, not as though they had been freed from unholy
stains and blemishes, nor yet as though they were
unreceptive of earthly fancies, but as far exalted
above every stain of remissness and every inferior
holiness, as befits the highest degree of purity-es-
tablished above the most Godlike powers, and cling-
ing unflinchingly to their own self-moved and same-
moved rank in their invariable love of God, conscious
• in no respect whatever of any declivity to a worse

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 27

condition, but having the unsullied fixity of their
own Godlike identity —never liable to fall, and always
unmoved; and again, as "contemplative," not con-
templators of intellectual symbols as sensible, nor as
being led to the Divine Being by the varied texture
of holy representations written for meditation, but
as being filled with all kinds of immaterial know-
ledge of higher light, and satiated, as permissible,
with the beautifying and original beauty of super-
essential and thrice manifested contemplation, and
thus, being deemed worthy of the Communion with
Jesus, they do not stamp pictorially the deifying
similitude in divinely-formed images, but, as being
really near to Him, in first participation of the
knowledge of His deifying illuminations ; nay more,
that the imitation of God is given to them in the
highest possible degree, and they participate, so far
as is allowable to them, in His deifying and philan-
thropic virtues, in the power of a first manifestation ;
and, likewise as "perfected," not as being illumi-
nated with an analytic science of sacred variety, but
as being filled with a first and pre-eminent deifi-
cation, as beseems the most exalted science of the
works of God, possible in Angels. For, not through
other holy Beings, but being ministered from the
very Godhead, by the immediate elevation to It, by
their power, and rank, surpassing all, they are both
established near the All-Holy without any shadow
of turning, and are conducted for contemplation to
the immaterial and intelligible comeliness, as far as
permissible, and are initiated into the scientific

2 g Dionysius the Areopngite

methods of the works of God, as being first and
around God, being ministered, in the highest degree,
from the very source of consecration.

Section III.
This, then, the theologians distinctly shew (viz.)
that the subordinate Orders of the Heavenly Being.
S taught by the superior, in due order, the «
sciences ; and that those who are h.gher than all are
Uuminated from Godhead itself, as far as perm'SStble,
in revelations of the Divine mysteries. For hey m-
troduce some of them as being religiously instructed
by those of a higher rank, that He, Who was raised
to" Heaven , as Man, is Lord of the Heavenly Powers
and King of Glory ; and others, as quest.on.ng Jesus
•Himself, as desiring to be instructed m the science
of His Divine work on our behalf, and Jesus Him-
self teaching them immediately, and I shewing to .then,
at first hand, His beneficent work out of love to
man For « ,» He says, "am speaking of righteous-
Tss'and judgment of Salvation V Now I am as-
tonished that even the first of the Beings ,n Heaven,
and so far above all, should reverently strive after
the supremely Divine illuminations, as intermediate
Beings" Fo/ they do not ask directly, "Wherefore
are Thy garments red*?" but they first raise the
' question among themselves, shewing that they desire
to learn, and crave the deifying knowledge, and not
anticipating the illumination given after a Divine

procedure.

. r Ua lxiii I. Ibld * 2 *

* Ps. xxiv. 7— I0 - lsa '

on the Heavenly Hierarchy . 29

The first Hierarchy, then, of the Heavenly Minds
is purified, and enlightened, and perfected, by being
ministered from the very Author of initiation, through
its elevation to It immediately, being filled, ac-
cording to its degree, with the altogether most holy
purification of the unproachable Light of the pre-
perfect source of initiation, unstained indeed by
any remissness, and full of primal Light, and per-
fected by its participation in first-given knowledge
and science. But to sum up, I may say this, not
inappropriately, that the reception of the supremely
Divine Science is, both purification, and enlighten-
ment, and perfecting, — purifying, as it were, from
ignorance, by the knowledge of the more perfect
revelations imparted to it according to fitness, and
enlightening by the self- same Divine knowledge,
through which it also purifies, that which did not
before contemplate the things which are now made
manifest through the higher illumination ; and per-
fecting further, by the self-same Light, through the
abiding science of the mysteries made clearly
manifest.

Section IV.

This, then, according to my science, is the first
rank of the Heavenly Beings which encircle and
stand immediately around God; and without sym-
bol, and without interruption, dances round His
eternal knowledge in the most exalted ever-moving
stability as in Angels; viewing purely many/ and
blessed contemplations, and illuminated with simple

3° Dionysius the Areopagite

and immediate splendours, and filled with Divine
nourishment,-many indeed by the first-given pro-
fusion, but one by the unvariegated and unifying
oneness of the supremely Divine banquet, deemed
worthy indeed of much participation and co-opera-
tion with God, by their assimilation to Him as far
as attainable, of their excellent habits and energies
and knowing many Divine things pre-eminently, and
participating in supremely Divine science and know-
ledge, as is lawful. Wherefore the Word of God has
transmitted its hymns to those on earth, in which
are Divinely shewn the excellency of its most exalted
illumination. For some of its members, to speak
after sensible perception, proclaim as a "voice ot
many waters," "Blessed is the glory of the Lord
from His place * f and others cry aloud that fre-
quent and most august hymn b of God, " Holy, Holy,
Holy, Lord of Sabaoth, the whole earth is full'of His
glory c.» These most excellent hymnologies of the
supercelestial Minds we have already unfolded to
the best of our ability in the " Treatise concerning
the Divine Hymns," and have spoken sufficiently
concerning them in that Treatise, from which, by
way of remembrance, it is enough to produce so
much as is necessary to the present occasion, namely,
" That the first Order, having been illuminated, from
this the supremely Divine goodness, as permissible,
in theological science, as a Hierarchy reflecting that
Goodness transmitted to those next after it," teach-
ing briefly this, "That it is just and right that the
' Ezek. iii. 12. b e*o\oyl w . % Isa. i. 3.

o?i the Heavenly Hierarchy. 3 x

august Godhead — Itself both above praise, and
all-praiseworthy — should be known and extolled by
the God-receptive minds, as is attainable; for they
as images of God are, as the Oracles d say, the Di-
vine places of the supremely Divine repose e ; and
further, that It is Monad and Unit tri-subsistent f ,
sending forth His most kindly forethought to all
things being, from the super-heavenly Minds to the
lowest of the earth ; as super-original Origin and
Cause of every essence, and grasping all things super-
essentially in a resistless embrace.

CAPUT VIII.

Concerning Lordships and Powers and Authorities,
and concerning their middle Hierarchy.

Section I.
Let us now pass to the middle Order of the
Heavenly Minds, gazing, as far as we may, with
supermundane eyes upon those Lordships, and the
truly terrible visions of the Divine Authorities and
Powers. For each appellation of the Beings above
us manifests their God-imitating characteristics of the
Divine Likeness. I think, then, that the explanatory
name of the Holy Lordships denotes a certain un-
slavish elevation, free from all grovelling subserviency,
as becomes the free, not submitting itself in any
way whatever to one of the tyrannical dissimilarities,
as a cruel Lordship ; superior to every kind of cring-
ing slavery, indomitable to every subserviency,, and
elevated above every dissimilarity, ever aspiring to
d Isa. lxvi. 1. • Acts vii. 49. ' Heb. i. 3.

\/

3 2 Diony sius the Areopagite

the true Lordship, and source of Lordship ; and
moulding, as an image of goodness, itself, and those
after it, to its Lordly bearing, as attainable, turning
itself wholly to none of the things that vainly seem, but
to the Lordly Being, and ever-sharing in the Lordly
Likeness of God, to its utmost ability; and the
appellation of the Holy Powers denotes a certain
courageous and_unflinching virility, for all those"
Godlike energies within them— not feebly weak for
the reception of any of the Divine illuminations
vouchsafed to it— vigorously conducted to the Divine
imitation, not forsaking the Godlike movement
through its own unmanliness, but unflinchingly look-
ing to the superessential and powerful-making power,
and becoming a powerlike image of this, as far as is
attainable, and powerfully turned to this, as Source of
Power, and issuing forth to those next in degree,
in gift of Power, and in likeness to God; and ''that
the appellation of the Holy Authorities, of the same
rank as the Divine Lordships and Powers, (denotes)
the beautiful and unconfused good order, with regard
to the Divine receptions, and the discipline oAhe
supermundane and intellectual authority, not using
the authoritative powers imperiously for base pur-
poses, but conducted indomitably, with good order,
towards Divine things, and conducting those after it
benignly, and assimilated, as far as permissible, to the
Authoritative Source of authority, and making this
visible, as is possible to Angels, in the well-ordered
ranks of the authoritative power within it. The
middle Order of the Heavenly Minds having these
Godlike characteristics, is purified and illuminated

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 33

and perfected in the manner described, by the Divine
illuminations vouchsafed to it at second hand, through
the first Hierarchical Order, and passing through this
middle as a secondary manifestation.

Section II.
No doubt, as regards that message, which is said
to_pass through one angel to another, we may take
it as a symbol of a perfecting completed from afar,
and obscured by reason of its passage to the second
rar>k. For, as men skilled in our sacred initiations
say, the fulness of Divine things manifested directly
to ourselves is more perfecting than the Divine con-
templations imparted through others. Thus, I think,
the immediate participation of the Angelic ranks
elevated in first degree to God, is more clear than
those perfected through the instrumentality of others.
Wherefore by our sacerdotal tradition, the first Minds
are named perfecting, and illuminating, and purifying
Powers of the subordinate, who are conducted,
through them, to the superessential Origin of all
things, and participate, as far as is permissible to
them, in the consecrating purifications, and illumi-
nations, and perfections. For, this is divinely fixed
absolutely by the Divine source of order that,
through the first, the second partake of the su-
premely Divine illuminations. This you will find
declared by the theologians in many ways. For, when
the Divine and Paternal Love towards man whilst
chastening, in a startling manner, His people Israel,
for their religious preservation, after delivering them

D

34 Dionysius the AreopagUe

to terrible and savage nations for correction, by
various leadings of His guided people to better
things, both liberated them from their misery, and
mildly led them back, through His compassion, to
their former state of comfort; one of the theolo-
gians, Zechariah, sees one of the first Angels, as
I think, and near God, (for the Angelic appellation
is common, as I said, to them all), learning from
God Himself the comforting words, as they are called,
concerning this matter ; and another Angel, of inferior
rank, advancing to meet the first, as for reception
and participation of enlightenment ; then, by him in-
structed in the Divine purpose as from a Hierarch,
and charged to reveal to the theologian that Jeru-
salem should be abundantly occupied by a multitude
of people e. And another theologian, Ezekiel, says
that this was righteously ordained by the glorious Deity
Itself, seated above the Cherubim h . For Paternal
Love towards man, conducting Israel as we have said
through chastisement to better things, by a righteous-
ness worthy of God, deemed right to separate the
guilty from the guiltless. This is first revealed to
one after the Cherubim * ; him who was bound about
the loins with a sapphire J, and wore displayed the
robe coming down to the feet, as a Hierarchical
symbol. But the Divine Government enjoins the
other Angels, who bore the battle-axes k , to be in-
structed from the former, as to the Divine judgment
in this matter. For, to one, He said that he should
* Zech. i. 8—17. •« Ezek. ix. 3. > Ibid. 3.

J Ibid. x. 1. * Ibid. ix. 2.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 35

go through the midst of Jerusalem, and place the
sign upon the forehead of the innocent men, but to
the others; "Go into the city after him and strike,
and draw not back your eyes, but to every one upon
whom is the sign draw not near."

What would any one say concerning the Angel,
who said to Daniel ', " The word has gone forth ? "
or concerning him the first, who took the fire from
the midst of the Cherubim, or what is more remark-
able than this for shewing the good order amongst
the Angels, that the Cherubim casts the fire into
the hands m of him who wears the sacred vestment ;
or concerning Him Who called the most divine
Gabriel, and said to him, "Make this man under-
stand the vision"," or whatever else is recorded by
the holy theologians concerning the Godlike order
of the Heavenly Hierarchies; by being assimilated
to which, as far as possible, the discipline of our
Hierarchy will have the Angelic comeliness, as it
were, in reflection, moulded through it, and con-
ducted to the superessential Source of order in everv
Hierarchy.

♦

CAPUT IX.

Concerning the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels,
and concerning their last Hierarchy.

Section I.
There remains for our reverent contemplation
a Division which completes the Angelic Hierarchies,

1 Dan. ix. 23. m Ezek. x. 2—7. ■ Dan. viii. 16.

3*> Dionysius the Areopagite

that divided into the Godlike Principalities, Arch-
angels, and Angels. And I think it necessary, to
declare first the meaning of their sacred appellations
to the best of my ability. For that of the Heavenly
Principalities manifests their princely and leading
function, after the Divine example, with order re-
ligious and most befitting the Princely, and their
being wholly turned to the super-princely Prince,
and leading others in princely fashion, and being
moulded, as far as possible, to that prince-making
Princedom Itself, and to manifest its superessential
princely order, by the regularity of the princely
powers.

Section II.

The (Order) of the Holy Archangels is of the
same rank with the heavenly Principalities. For
there is one Hierarchy and Division, as I said,
of them and the Angels. But since thereis not
a Hierarchy which does not possess first and middle
and last powers, the holy order of Archangels oc-
cupies the middle position in the Hierarchy between
the extremes, for it belongs alike to the most holy
Principalities and to the holy Angels ; to the Prin-
cipalities because it is turned in a princely fashion
to the superessential Princedojn, and is moulded
to It as far as attainable, and unites the Angels
after the fashion of its own well-regulated and mar-
shalled and invisible leadings; and it belongs to
the Angels, because it is of the messenger Order,
receiving hierarchically the Divine illuminations from

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 37

the first powers, and announcing the same to the
Angels in a godly manner, and, through Angels,
manifesting to us, in proportion to the religious
aptitude of each of the godly persons illuminated.
For the Angels, as we have already said, complete
the whole series of Heavenly Minds, as being the
last Order of the Heavenly Beings who possess the
Angelic characteristic; yea, rather, they are more
properly named Angels by us than those of higher
degree, because' their Hierarchy is occupied with
the more manifest, and is more particularly con-
cerned with the things of the world. For the very
highest Order, as being placed in the first rank
near the Hidden One, we must consider as directing
in spiritual things the second, hiddenly; and that v
the second, which is composed of the holy Lord-
ships and Powers and Authorities, leads the Hier-
archy of the Principalities and Archangels and
Angels, more clearly indeed than the first Hierarchy,
but more hiddenly than the Order after it, and -
the revealing order of the Principalities, Archangels,
and Angels, presides, through each other, over the
Hierarchi es amongst men,, in order that the eleva-
tion, and conversion, and communion, and union
with God may be in due order; and, further, also
that the procession from God vouchsafed benignly
to all the Hierarchies, and passing to all in common,
may be also with most sacred regularity. Hence,
the Word of God has assigned our Hierarchy to
Angels, by naming Michael as Ruler of the Jewish
people, and others over other nations. For the

3 8 Diony sins the Areopagite

Most High established borders of nations according
to number of Angels of° God.

Section III.
But if any one should say, " How then were the
people of the Hebrews alone conducted to the
supremely Divine illuminations?" we must answer,
that we ought not to throw the blame of the other
nations wandering after those which are no gods
upon the direct guidance of the Angels, but that
they themselves, by their own declension, fell away
from the direct leading towards the Divine Being,
through self-conceit and self-will, and through their
irrational" veneration for things which appeared to
them worthy of God. Even the Hebrew people
are said to have suffered the same thing ; for He
says, "Thou<i hast cast away knowledge of God,
and'hast gone after thine own heart V For neither
1 have we a, life governed by necessity, nor on account
' oflne free will of those who are objects of pro-
vidential care, are the Divine rays of the providential
illumination blunted; but the inaptitude of the
mental visions makes the overflowing light-gift of
the paternal goodness, ehher altogether unpartic^
pitted or inpenetrable to Jheir resistance, or makes
the participations of the one fontal ray, diverse,
small, or great, obscure, or brilliant, although that
ray is one and simple, and always the same and ever
overflowing ; for even if, over the other nations (from

" Deut. xxxii. 8. p ava\6y<f. I suggest &\oy V .

* Hoseaiv. 6. r Jer. xvi. 12.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 39

whom we also have emerged to that boundless and
bounteous sea of Divine Light, which is readily
expanded for the ready reception of all), certain not-
alien gods were wont to preside ; yet there is one
Head of all, and to this, the Angels, who religiously
direct each nation, conduct those who follow them.
Let us consider Melchizedek s as being a Hierarch,
most dear to God ; (not of gods which are not, but
of the truly most high God); for the godly -wise
did not call Melchizedek simply dear to God, but
also Priest, in order that they may clearly shew
to the wise, that not only was he himself turned
to the true God, but further that he was guide to
others, as Hierarch of the elevation to the true and
only Godhead.

Section IV.

Let me also recall this to your Hierarchical judg-
ment—that both to Pharaoh *, from the Angel who
presided over the Egyptians, and to the Babylonian u
Prince, from his own Angel, the watchful and ruling
care of the Providence and Lordship over all, was
interpreted in visions; and for those nations, the
worshippers of the true God were appointed leaders,
for the interpretation of things shaped by Angelic
visions revealed from God through Angels to holy
men akin to the Angels, Daniel and Joseph. For
there is one Prince and Providence over all.
And never must we think that the Godhead is
leader of Jews by lot x , and that Angels, inde-

• Gen. xiv. 18 ; Heb. vii. 1. * Gen. xli. 1—7.

tt Dan. ii. 1. * a-roKAripwTiKws.

40 Dionysius the Areopagite

pendently, or as of equal rank, or in opposition,
or that certain other gods, preside over the other
nations. But that particular phrase of the Divine
Word must be accepted according to the follow-
ing sacred intention ; not as though God had di-
vided government amongst men, with other gods,
or Angels, and had been elected by lot to the
government and leadership of Israel, but in this
sense — whilst the one Providence of Highest over
all, assigned all mankind, savingly, to the directing
conduct of their own Angels, yet Israel, almost
v/ alone in comparison with all, turned himself to
the Light-gift, and recognition of the true Lord-
Hence the Word of God, as shewing that Israel
elected himself for the worship of the true God,
says this, "He became 2 Lord's portion;" and as
indicating that he was assigned equally with the
other nations, to one of the holy Angels, for the
recognition, through him, of the Head of all, said
"That Michael* became leader of the (Jewish)
people," demonstrating distinctly that there is one
Providence of the whole, superessentially established
above all the powers, unseen and seen, and that
all the Angels who preside over each nation, elevate,
as far as possible, those who follow them with a
willing mind, to It as their proper Head.

* 4xtaTpa<p6P7os — iir€arpa<p€iroi{?). » Deut. xxxii. 9.

• Dan. x. 21.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 41

CAPUT X.

A Repetition and Summary of the Angelic discipline.
Section I.
We have concluded, then, that the most reverend
Order of the Minds around God, ministered by the
perfecting illumination through its immediate ele-
vation to it, is purified, and illuminated, and per-
fected by a gif t of light from the Godhead, more
hidden and more manifest — more hidden, indeed,
as being more intelligible, and more simplifying,
and more unifying ; more manifest, as being a first
gift and a first manifestation, and more complete,
and more affused to it as transparent. And from
this (Order) again, in due degree, the second, and
from the second, the third, and from the third, our
Hierarchy, is reverently conducted to the super-
original Origin and End of all good order, accord-
ing to the self-same law of well-ordered regularity,
in Divine harmony and proportion.

Section II.
Now all Angels are interpreters of those above
them, the most reverend, indeed, of God, Who
moves them, and the rest, in due degree, ot
those who have been moved by God. For, to such
an extent has the superessential harmony of all
things provided for the religious order and the
regulated conduct of each of the rational and in-
tellectual beings, that each rank of the Hierarchies
has been placed in sacred order, and we observe

4 2 Dionysius the Areopagite

every Hierarchy distributed into first, and middle,
and last Powers. But to speak accurately, He dis-
tinguished each Division itself, by the same Divine
harmonies ; wherefore the theologians say that the
most Divine Seraphim cry one to another \ in-
dicating distinctly, as I think by this, that the' first
impart their knowledge of divine things to the
second.

Section III.
I might add this not inappropriately, that each
heavenly and human mind has within itself its own
special first, and middle, and last ranks, and powers,
manifested severally in due degree, for the aforesaid
particular mystical meanings of the Hierarchical
illuminations, according to which, each one par-
ticipates, so far as is lawful and attainable to him,
in the most spotless purification, the most copious
light, the pre-eminent perfection. For there is no-
thing that is self-perfect, or absolutely without need
of perfecting, except the really Self-perfect and pre-
eminently Perfect.

♦

CAPUT XL

For what reason all the Heavetily Beings, in common,
are called Heavenly Powers.

Section I.

Now that we have defined these things, it is

worthy of consideration for what reason we are

accustomed to call ; all the Angelic Beings together,

b Isa. vi. 3.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 43

Heavenly Powers. For it is not possible to say,
■as we may of the Angels, that the Order of the
holy Powers is last of all. The Orders of the
superior Beings share in the saintly illumination
of the last; but the last in no wise of the first;
and on this account all the Divine Minds are called
Heavenly Powers, but never Seraphim and Thrones
and Lordships. For the last do not enjoy the whole
characteristics of the highest. For the Angels, and
those above the Angels — Archangels, and Princi-
palities, and Authorities, — placed by the Word of
Gcd after the Powers, are often in common called
by us, in conjunction with the other holy Beings,
Heavenly Powers.

Section II.

But we affirm that, whilst often using the appel-
lation, Heavenly Powers, for all in common, we do
not introduce a sort of confusion of the character-
istics of each Order. But, inasmuch as all the
Divine Minds, by the supermundane description
given of them, are distributed into three, — into es-
sence, and power, and energy, — when we speak of
them all, or some of them, indiscriminately, as
Heavenly Beings or Heavenly Powers, we must con-
sider that we manifest those about whom we speak
in a general way, from their essence or power sever-
ally. For we must not apply the superior character-
istic of those holy Powers, whom we have already
sufficiently distinguished, to the Beings which are
entirely inferior to them, so as to overthrow the
unconfused order of the Angelic ranks. For accord-

44 Dionysius the Areopagite

rng to the correct account which we have already
frequently given, the superior Orders possess abund-
antly the sacred characteristics of the inferior, but
the lowest do not possess the superior completeness
of the more reverend, since the first-manifested
illuminations are revealed to them, through the
first Order, in proportion to their capacity.

CAPUT XII.

Why the Hierarchs amongst men are called Angels.

Section I.
But this is sometimes also asked by diligent
contemplators of the intelligible Oracles ; Inasmuch
as the lowest Orders do not possess the complete-
ness of the superior, for what reason is our Hierarch
named by the Oracles, "Angel of the Sovereign
Lord 6 ?"

Section II.
Now the statement, as I think, is not contrary
to what has been before defined; for we say
that the last lack the complete and pre-eminent
Power of the more reverend Divisions ; for they par-
ticipate in the partial and analogous, according to
the one harmonious and binding fellowship of all
things. For example, the rank of the holy Cheru-
bim participates in higher wisdom and knowledge,
but the Divisions of the Beings beneath them, par-
ticipate, they also, in wisdom and knowledge, but
nevertheless partially, as compared with them, and
e Mai. ii. 7.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 45

in a lower degree. For the participation of wisdom
and knowledge throughout is common to all the
minds which bear the image of God ; but the being
near and first, or second and inferior, is not common,
but, as has been determined for each in its own
degree. This also one might safely define respect-
ing all the Divine Minds ;* for, as the first possess
abundantly the saintly characteristics of the inferior,
so the last possess those of the superior, not indeed
in the same degree, but subordinately. There is,
then, as I think, nothing absurd, if the Word of
God calls our Hierarch, Angel, since he participates,
according to his own capacity, in the messenger
characteristic of the Angels, and elevates himself,
as far as attainable to men, to the likeness of their

revealing office.

Section III.

But you will find that the Word of God calls
gods, both the Heavenly Beings above us, and the
most beloved of God, and holy men amongst us d ,
although the Divine Hiddenness is transcendently
elevated and established above all, and no created
Being can properly and wholly be said to be like
unto It, except those intellectual and rational Beings
who are entirely and wholly turned to Its Oneness
as far as possible, and who elevate themselves in-
cessantly to Its Divine illuminations, as far as attain-
able, by their imitation of God, if I may so speak,
according to their power, and are deemed worthy
of the same divine name.

d Exod. vii. I ; Ps. lxxxii. 6.

4 6 Dionysius the Areopagite

CAPUT XIII.

For what reason the Prophet Isaiah is said to have
been purified by the Seraphim.

Section I.
Come, then, let us examine this as best we can,
why the Seraphim is said to be sent to one of
the Theologians; for some one may object, that
not one of the inferior Angels, but he, the enrolled
amongst the most reverend Beings, cleanses the

Prophet.

Section II.

Some, then, affirm that, according to the definition
already given of the mutual relation of all the
Minds, the Logione doe s not name one of the
highest around God, as having come for the cleans-
ing of the Theologian, but that some one of the
Angels, placed over us as a sacred Minister of
the Prophet's cleansing, is called by the same name
as the Seraphim, on the ground that the removal
of the faults spoken of, and the restoration of him
who was cleansed for the Divine mission, was
through fire; and they say that the legion 'speaks
simply of one of the Seraphim, not one of those
who are established around God, but one of the
Powers set over us for the purpose of cleansing.

Section III.

e

Section III.
Now another man brought forward to me a by
no means foolish defence of the present posmon.

f TK,^ T

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 47

For he said that that great one, whoever he was,—
the^ Angel who formed this vision for the purpose
of teaching the theologian Divine things,— referred
his own cleansing function to God, and after God,
to the first working Hierarchy. And was not this
statement certainly true? For he who said this
affirmed that the supremely Divine Power in visiting
all, advances and penetrates all irresistibly, and yet
is invisible to all, not only as being superessentially
elevated above all, but as secretly transmitting its
providential energies to all ; yea, rather, it is mani-
fested to all the intellectual Beings in due degree
and by conducting Its own gift of Light to the
most reverend Beings, through them, as first It
distributes in due order to the subordinate, ac-
cording to the power of each Division to bear the
vision of God ; or to speak more strictly, and
through familiar illustrations (for if they fall short
of the Glory of God, Who is exalted above all
yet they are more illustrating for us\ the distri-
bution of the sun's ray passes with easy distribu-
tion to first matter, as being more transparent than
all, and, through it with greater clearness, lights
up its own splendours; but when it strikes more
dense materials, its distributed brilliancy becomes
more obscure, from the inaptitude of the materials
illuminated for transmission of the gift of Light
and from this it is naturally contracted, so as to
almost entirely exclude the passage of Light Again
the heat of fire transmits itself chiefly to things that
are more receptive, and yielding, and conductive

.g Dionysius the Areopagite

to assimilation to itself; but, as regards repellent
O.POS,, ^stances eUHer it eaves none,^
verv 1 ght, trace of its tiery energy ,
when through substances favourable to .ts proper
Ictton, it comes in contact with rtungs not con-
"°?_ first it perchance makes things easily
"a ed to heating hot, and through them heats
proportionately either water or something else which
I not easily heated. After the same rule, then
, of Nature's well-ordered method, the regulation
\ o aU good order, both visible and invisible, man,
tt s supernatural the brightness of its own gift
of Ligh in first manifestation to the most exalted
Beitgs m abundant streams, and through these,
fhe Beings after them partake of the Divine ray.
For these, as knowing God first, and striving pre-
Imn'nt after Divine virtue, and to become first-
wTke s are deemed worthy of the power and energy
? or the imitation of God, as attainable and these
benevolently elevate the beings after them to an
e q X as far as possible, by imparting ungrudg-
nTy oWm the splendour which rests upon them-
sles, and these again to the subordinate ad

o?i the Heavenly Hierarchy. 49

superior (is source) for each after it, by the fact,
that the Divine rays are poured through it to that.
All the remaining Angelic Beings, then, naturally
regard the highest Order of the Heavenly Minds
as source, after God, of every God-knowledge and
God-imitation, since, through them, the supremely
Divine illumination is distributed to all, and to us.
Wherefore, they refer every holy energy of Divine
imitation to God indeed as Cause, but to the first
Godlike Minds, as first agents and teachers of things
Divine.

The first Order, then, of the holy Angels possesses,
more than all, the characteristic of fire, and the
streaming distribution of supremely Divine wisdom,
and the faculty of knowing the highest science of
the Divine illuminations, and the characteristic of
Thrones, exhibiting their expansion for the reception
of God ; and the ranks of the subordinate Beings
possess indeed the empyrean, the wise, the knowing,
the God-receptive, faculty, but subordinate^, and
by looking to the first, and through them, as being
deemed worthy of the Divine imitation in first oper-
ation, are conducted to the attainable likeness of
God. The aforesaid holy characteristics, then, which
the Beings after them possess, through the first, they
attribute to those Beings themselves, after God, as
Hierarchs.

Section IV.

He who said this, used to affirm, that this vision
was shewn to the Theologian &, through one of the
« Isa. vi.

E

5° Dionysius the Areopagite

holy and blessed Angels set over us, and that from
his illuminating direction, he was elevated to that
intellectual contemplation in which he saw the most
exalted Beings seated (to speak symbolically) under
God, and with God, and around * God, and the
super-princejy i Eminence elevated unspeakably above
them and all, seated on high in the midst of the
superior Powers. The Theologian then learned, from
the things seen, that, as compared with every super-
essential pre-eminence, the Divine Being was seated
incomparably above every visible and invisible power,
yea, even that It is exalted above all, as the Reality
of all things, as Absolute— not even like to the first
of created Beings ;-further also, that It is source
and essentiating Cause, and unalterable Fixity of
the undissolved continuance of all things, from
Which is both the being and the well-being of the
most exalted Powers themselves. Then he revealed
that the Godlike powers of the most holy Seraphim
themselves, whose sacred appellation signifies the
Fiery, concerning which we shall shortly speak as
best we can, conducted the elevations of the empy-
rean power to the Divine likeness. And, the holy
Theologian, by viewing the description of free and
most exalted elevation of the sixfold wings to the
Divine Being in first, middle, and last conceptions,
and further, their endless feet and many faces, and
their extended wings— one under their feet, and the
other over their faces, as seen in vision, and the
perpetual movement of their middle wings— was
h John i. i. i Or super-original.

07i the Heavenly Hierarchy. 5 1

brought to the intelligible knowledge of the things
seen, since there was manifested to him the power
of the most exalted minds for deep penetration and
contemplation, and the sacred reverence which they
have, supermundanely, for the bold and courageous
and unattainable scrutiny into higher and deeper
mysteries j and of the incessant and high-flying
perpetual movement of their Godlike energies in
due proportion. But he was also taught the hidden
mysteries of that supremely Divine and much es-
teemed Hymn of Praise— whilst the Angel who
formed the vision imparts, as far as possible, his
own sacred knowledge to the Theologian. He also
taught him this, that the participation, as far as
attainable, in the supremely Divine and radiant
purity, is a purification to the pure however pure;
and it being accomplished from the very Godhead
by most exalted causes, for all the sacred Minds by
a superessential hiddenness, is in a manner more
clear, and exhibits and distributes itself, in a higher
degree, to the highest powers around It ; but with
regard to the second, or us, the lowest mental powers,
as each is, distant from, as regards the Divine like-^
ness, so It contracts its brilliant illumination to the
single unknowable of its own hiddenness. And it -
illuminates the second, severally, through the first ;
and, if one must speak briefly, it is firstly brought
from hiddenness to manifestation through the first
powers. This, then, the Theologian was taught by
the Angel who was leading him to Light— that puri-
fication, and all the supremely Divine operations,

J

5 2 Dionysius the Areopagite

illuminating through the first Beings, are distributed
to all the rest, according to the relation of each for
the deifying participations. Wherefore he reasonably
attributed to the Seraphim, after God, the character-
istic of purification by fire. There is nothing, then,
absurd, if the Seraphim is said to purify the Prophet
For, as God purifies all, by being cause of every puri-
fication, yea, rather (for I use a familiar illustration)
just as our Hierarch, when purifying or enlightening
through his Leitourgoi or Priests, is said himself
to purify and enlighten, since the Orders consecrated
through him attribute to him their own proper sacred
operations ; so also the Angel who effected the purifi-
cation of the Theologian attributes his own purifying
science and power to God, indeed, as Cause, but
to the Seraphim as first-operating Hierarch ; as any
one might say with Angelic reverence, whilst teaching
one who was being purified by him, " There is a pre-
eminent Source, and Essence, and Worker, and
Cause of the cleansing wrought upon you from me,
He Who brings both the first Beings into Being,
and holds them together by their fixity around
Himself, and keeps them without change and with-
out fall, moving them to the first participations of
His own Providential energies (for this, He Who
taught me these things used to say, shews the mis-
sion of the Seraphim), but as Hierarch and Leader
after God, the Marshal of the most exalted Beings,
from whom I was taught to purify after the ex-
ample of God — this is he, who cleanses thee
y y through me, through whom the Cause and Creator

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 53

of all cleansing brought forth His own provident
energies from the Hidden even to us." These
things, then, he taught me, and I impart them
to thee. Let it be a part of thy intellectual and
discriminating skill, either, to acquit each of the
causes assigned^ from objection, and to honour this
before the other as having likelihood and good
reason, and perhaps, the truth ; or, to find out from
yourself something more allied to the real truth, or
to learn from another ; (God, of course, giving ex-
pression, and Angels supplying it ;) and to reveal to
us, the friends of Angels, a view more luminous if
it should be so, and to me specially welcome.

CAPUT XIV.

What the traditional number of the Angels signifies.
This also is worthy, in my opinion, of intellectual
attention, that the tradition of the Oracles concerning
the Angels affirms that they are thousand thousands,
and myriad myriads, accumulating and multiplying,
to themselves, the supreme limits of our numbers,
and, through these, shewing clearly, that the ranks
of the Heavenly Beings cannot be numbered by us.
For many are the blessed hosts of the supermundane
minds, surpassing the weak and contracted measure-
ment of our material number, and being definitely
known by their own supermundane and heavenly
intelligence and science alone, which is given to
them in profusion by the supremely Divine and
Omniscient Framer of Wisdom, and essentiating

54 Dionysius the Areopagite

Cause and connecting Force, and encompassing
Term of all created things together J.

CAPUT XV.

What are the morphic likenesses of the Angelic
Powers ? what the fiery ? what the anthromor-
phic? what are the eyes? what the nostrils?
what the ears? what the mouths? what the
touch? what the eyelids? what the eyebrows?
what the prime ? what the teeth ? what the
shoulders? what the elboivs and the hands?
what the heart? what the breasts? what the
back? what the feet? what the wings? what
the nakedness ? what the robe ? what the
shining raiment? what the sacerdotal? what
the girdles ? what the rods ? what the spears ?
what the battle - axes ? what the measuring
lines ? what the winds ? what the clouds ? what
the brass ? what the electron ? what the choirs ?
what the clapping of hands ? what the coiours
of different stones ? what the appearance of the
lion? what the appearance of the ox? what the
appearafice of the eagle ? what the horses ? what
the varieties of coloured horses ? what the rivers ?
what the chariots ? what the wheels ? what the
so-called joy of the Angels?

Section I.
Come, then, let us at last, if you please, rest our
mental vision from the strain of lofty contemplation,
befitting Angels, and descend to the divided and
manifold breadth of the many-shaped variety of the
Angelic forms, and then return analytically from the
J Dan. vii. jo.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 55

same, as from images, to the simplicity of the
Heavenly Minds. But let this first be made plain
to you, that the explanations of the sacredly de-
picted likenesses represent the same ranks of the
Heavenly Beings as sometimes ruling, and, at other
times, as being ruled; and the last, ruling, and
the first, being ruled ; and the same, as has
been said, having first, and middle, and last powers
-without introducing anything absurd into the de-
scription, according to the following method of
explanation. For if indeed we were to say that
some are ruled by those above them, and then
that they rule the same, and that those above,
whilst ruling those below, are ruled by those same
who are being ruled, the thing would manifestly
be absurd, and mixed with all sorts of confusion.
But if we say that the same rule and are ruled,
but no longer the self-same, or from the self-same,
but that each same is ruled by those before, and
rules those below, one might say appropriately that
the Divinely pictured presentations in the Oracles
may sometimes attribute, properly and truly, the
very same, both to first, and middle, and last powers.
Now the straining elevation to things above, and
their being drawn unswervingly around each other,
as being guardians of their own proper powers, and
that they participate in the providential faculty to
provide for those below them by mutual communi-
cation, befit truly all the Heavenly Beings, although
some, pre-eminently and wholly, as we have often
said, and others partially and subordinately.

5 6 Dionysiics the Areopagtte

Section II.
But we must keep our discourse within bounds,
and must search, in our first explanation of the types'
for what reason the Word of God prefers the sacred
description of fire, in preference to almost every
other*. You will find it, then, representing not
only wheels of fire, but also living creatures of fire 1 ,
and men, flashing, as it were, like lightning™, and
placing around the Heavenly Beings themselves
heaps of coals of fire n , and rivers of flame flowing
with irresistible force ; and also it says that the
thrones are of fire*; and that the most exalted
Seraphim glow with fire, it shews from their appel-
lation, and it attributes the characteristic and energy
of fire* to them, and throughout, above and below,
it prefers pre-eminently the representation by the
image of fire. I think, then, the similitude of fire r
denotes the likeness of the Heavenly Minds to God
in the highest degree; for the holy theologians fre-
quently describe the superessential and formless
essence by fire, as having many likenesses, if I may
be permitted to say so, of the supremely Divine
property, as in things visible. For the sensibl e
I i fire is, so to speak, in everything, and passes through
everything unmingled, and springs from all, and
whilst all-luminous, is, as it were, hidden, un-
known, in its essential nature, when there is no

* Dan. vii. 9. 1 Ezek. i. 13, 16. m Ibid . |v|>

* Ibid. x. 2. o Dan> vil JOm p Ibi(] 9 q Isa y . ^ 7

* Le Cratyle de Platon, i. 302.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 57

material lying near it upon which it may shew its
proper energy. It is both uncontrollable and in-
visible, self-subduing all things, and bringing under
its own energy anything in which it may happen
to be; varying, imparting itself to all things near
it, whatever they may be; renewing by its rousing
heat, and giving light by its uncovered illuminations;
invincible, unmingled, separating, unchangeable,
elevating, penetrating, lofty; subject to no grovelling
inferiority, ever moving, self-moving, moving other
things, comprehending, incomprehended, needing
no other, imperceptibly increasing itself, displaying
its own majesty to the materials receiving it; ener-
getic, powerful, present to all invisibly, unobserved,
seeming not to be, and manifesting itself suddenly
according to its own proper nature by friction, as it
were by a sort of seeking, and again flying away im-
palpably, undiminished in all the joyful distributions
of itself. And one might find many characteristics
of fire, appropriate to display the supremely Divine
Energy, as in sensible images. The Godly-wise,
then, knowing this, depict the celestial Beings from
fire, shewing their Godlikeness, and imitation of
God, as far as attainable.

Section III.

But they also depict them under the likeness
of men 8 , on account of the intellectual faculty,
and their having powers of looking upwards, and

8 Gen. xxxii. 24.

58 Dionysius the Areopagite

their straight and erect form, and their innate faculty
of ruling and guiding, and whilst being least, in
physical strength as compared with the other powers
of irrational creatures, yet ruling over all by their
superior power of mind, and by their dominion in
consequence of rational science, and their innate
unslavishness and indomitableness of soul. It is
possible, then, I think, to find within each of the
i many parts of our body harmonious images of the
*( Heavenly Powers, by affirming that the powers of
vision* denote the most transparent elevation to-
wards the Divine lights, and again, the tender,
and liquid, and not repellent, but sensitive, and
pure, and unfolded, reception, free from all passion,
of the supremely Divine illuminations.

Now the discriminating powers of the nostrils
denote the being able to receive, as far as attainable,
the sweet-smelling largess beyond conception, and
to distinguish accurately things which are not such,
and to entirely reject".

The powers of the ears denote the participation
and conscious reception of the supremely Divine
inspiration.

The powers of taste denote the fulness of the
intelligible nourishments, and the reception of the
Divine and nourishing streams x .

The powers of touch denote the skilful discrimi-
nation of that which is suitable or injurious ?.

* Ezek. i. 18 ; Ibid. ix. 5. u Gen. viii. 21.

* Ibid. xix. 3. J Ibid, xxxii. 25.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 59

The eyelids and eyebrows denote the guarding
of the conceptions which see God.

The figures of manhood and youth denote the
perpetual bloom and vigour of life \

The teeth denote the dividing of the nourishing
perfection given to us ; for each intellectual Being
divides and multiplies, by a provident faculty, the
unified conception given to it by the more Divine
for the proportionate elevation of the inferior.

The shoulders and elbows a , and further, the
hands b , denote the power of making, and operating,
and accomplishing.

The heart again is a symbol of the Godlike life,
dispersing its own life-giving power to the objects
of its forethought, as beseems the good.

The chest again denotes the invincible and pro-
tective faculty of the life-giving distribution, as being
placed above the heart.

The back, the holding together the whole pro-
ductive powers of life.

The feet d denote the moving and quickness, and
skilfulness of the perpetual movement advancing
towards Divine things. Wherefore also the Word
of God arranged the feet of the holy Minds under
their wings e ; for the wing displays the elevating
quickness and the heavenly progress towards higher
things, and the superiority to every grovelling thing
by reason of the ascending, and the lightness of
the wings denotes their being in no respect earthly,
z Mark xvi. 5. a Dan. x. 6. b Ibid. 10.

Ibid. 5. d Isaiah vi. 2. e Ezek. i. 6.

60 Dionysius the Areopagite

but undefiledly and lightly raised to the sublime;
and the naked and unshod denotes the unfettered,
agile, and unrestrained, and free from all external
superfluity, and assimilation to the Divine simplicity,
as far as attainable.

Section IV.
But since again the simple and variegated wis-
dom f both clothes the naked, and distributes cer-
tain implements to them to carry, come, let us
unfold, according to our power, the sacred garments
and implements of the celestial Minds. The shining
and glowing raiment, I think, signifies the Divine
likeness after the image of fire, and their enlighten-
ing *, in consequence of their repose in Heaven,
where is the Light, and their complete illuminating
intelligibly, and their being illuminated intellec
tually h ; and the sacerdotal robe denotes their con-
ducting to Divine and mystical visions, and the
consecration of their whole life 1 . And the girdles
signify the guard over their productive powers, and
the collected habit of being turned uniformly to
It, and being drawn around Itself by an unbroken
identity, in a well-ordered circle.

Section V.
The rods signify the kingly and directing faculty,
making all things straight The spears k and the
battle-axes denote the dividing of things unlike,

' Eph. iii. io. « John xx. 12. h See Maximus D.N.

c. 4. s. 1. * Dan. x. 5. k Gen. iii. 24.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 61

and the sharp and energetic and drastic operation
of the discriminating powers. The geometrical
and technical 1 " articles denote the founding, and
building, and completing, and whatever else belongs
to the elevating and guiding forethought for the
subordinate Orders. But sometimes the implements
assigned to the holy Angels are the symbols of
God's judgments to ourselves; some, representing
His correcting 11 instruction or avenging righteous-
ness others, freedom from peril, or end of edu-
cation, or resumption of former well-being, or
addition of other gifts, small or great, sensible or
intelligible p. Nor would a discriminating mind, in
any case whatever, have any difficulty in properly
adapting things visible to things invisible.

Section VI.
But the fact that they are named winds * denotes
their rapid action, passing almost instantaneously to
all things, and their transporting movement in pass-
ing from above to below, and again from below to
above, their elevating the second to the - height
above, and moving the first to a common and pro-
vident advance of the inferior Orders. But perhaps
some one would say that the appellation of wind,
to the aerial spirit, also denotes the Divine likeness
of the Heavenly Minds; for this also bears a like-
ness and type of the supremely Divine energy (as

1E zek.xi. 3 . -Amosvii.7. » N™ 3 i;

o 2 Kings xxiv.16. PZech.in.9. IPs. civ. 3,

Dan. vii. 2.

62 Dionysius the Areopagite

we have demonstrated more fully in the symbolic
theology, in our explanation of the four elements)
in accordance with the moving and life-producing,
and the rapid and resistless development of Nature',
and the Hiddenness of the moving sources and ter-
minations to us unknown and invisible. For He
says, "Thou knowest not whence it cometh r nor
whither it goeth." But also the Word of God attri-
butes to them the appearance of a cloud 8 , signifying,
through this, that the holy minds are filled super-
mundanely with the hidden Light, receiving the
first manifestation without boasting over it as such,
which they distribute ungrudgingly to the second,'
as a secondary manifestation, and in proportion to
capacity ; yea, further, that the productive, and life-
producing, and increasing, and perfecting power is
enshrined in them, after the fashion of the intel-
ligible production of showers *, which summons the
receptive womb of the earth, by fruitful rains, to
the life-giving pangs of birth.

Section VII.
Also, the Word of God attributes to the Heavenly
Beings a likeness to Brass*, Electron 1 , and many-
coloured stones. Electron, as being partly like gold,
partly like silver, denotes the incorruptible, as in
gold, and unexpended, and undiminished, and spot-
less brilliancy, and the brightness, as in silver, and
a luminous and heavenly radiance. But to the

r John iii. 8. a Ezek. 10. 4. » V q V t^ btfpoaKiav.

u Ezek. xi. 3. x jbid. viii. 2.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 63

Brass, according to the reasons assigned, must be
attributed either the likeness of fire or that of gold.

We must consider that the many-coloured appear-
ances of stones denote either as white, the luminous ;
or as red, the fiery ; or as yellow, the golden ; or as
green, the youthful and the full grown ; and within
each likeness you will find an explanation which
teaches the inner meaning of the typical images.

But since, I think, according to our power, this
has been sufficiently said, let us pass to the sacred
explanation of the Divine representations of the
Heavenly Minds through wild beasts*. We must
consider that the shape of a Lion 2 signifies the
leading, and robust, and indomitable, and the assi-
milation, as far as possible, to the unutterable God-
head, by the concealment of the intellectual foot-
prints*, and by the mystically modest covering of
the path, leading to It, during Divine illumination.

Section VIII.

The Image of the Ox b denotes the strong and the
mature, turning up the intellectual furrows for the
reception of the heavenly and productive showers;
and the Horns, the guarding and indomitable.

The representation of the Eagle denotes the
kingly, and soaring, and swift in flight, and quick-
ness in search of the nourishment which makes

y Ezek. i. 10. z Ibid.

^ The Lion was said to erase his footsteps by his tail.
b Ezek. i. 10. c ibid.

6 4 Dionysius the Areopagite

strong, and wariness, and agility, and cleverness •
and the unimpeded, straight, and unflinching gaze
towards the bounteous and brilliant splendour of the
Divine rays of the sun, with the robust extension
of the visual powers.

That of Horses represents obedience and docility
and of those who are white, brilliancy, and as espe-
cially congenial to the Divine Light; but of those
who are dark blue, the Hidden; and of those red,
the fiery and vigorous ; and of the piebald, the
uniting of the extremes by the power passing through
them, and joining the first to the second, and the
second to the first, reciprocally and considerately

Now if we did not consult the proportion of our
discourse, we might, not inappropriately, adapt the
particular characteristics of the aforesaid living crea-
tures, and all their bodily representations to the
Heavenly Powers, upon the principle of dissimilar
similitudes; for instance, their appearance of anger
to intellectual manliness, of which anger is the re-
motest echo, and their desire, to the Divine love •
and to speak summarily, referring all the sensible
perceptions, and many parts of irrational beings, to
the immaterial conceptions and unified Powers' of
the Heavenly Beings. Now not only is this suffi-
cient for the wise, but even an explanation of one
of the dissimilar representations would be sufficient
for the accurate description of similar things, after
the same fashion.

on the Heavenly Hierarchy. 65

Section IX.

But we must examine the fact that rivers d are
spoken of, and Wheels e and Chariots f attached to
the Heavenly Beings. The rivers of fire signify the
supremely Divine streams furnishing to them an
ungrudging and incessant flow, and nourishing the
productive powers of life j the chariots, the con-
joined communion of those of the same rank; the
wheels being winged, and advancing without turning
and without deviation, the power of their advancing
energy within a straight and direct path, towards
the same unflinching and straight swoop g of their
every intellectual track, supermundanely straight and
direct way. Also it is possible to explain, after an-
other mystical meaning, the sacred description of
the intellectual wheels j for the name Gel, Gel, is
given to them, as the theologian says. This shews,
according to the Hebrew tongue, revolutions and
revelations. For the Empyrean and Godlike wheels
have revolutions, indeed, by their perpetual move-
ment around the Good Itself; but revelations, by
the manifestation of things hidden, and by the ele-
vation of things at our feet, and -by the descending
procession of the sublime illuminations to things
below. There remains for accurate explanation,
the statement respecting the rejoicing of the Hea-
venly Orders h ; for they are utterly incapable of
our impassioned pleasure. Now they are said to

d Dan. vii. 10. e Ezek. x. 9. f 2 Kings ii. 11.

e otna{l). h Luke xv. 10.

66 Dionysius the Areopagite, (5^.

rejoice with God over the discovery of what was
lost, as befits their Divine good nature, and that
Godlike and ungrudging rejoicing over the care and
salvation of those who are turned to God ; and that
joy, beyond description, of which also holy men often
partake, whilst the deifying illuminations of the Deity
rest upon them. Let it suffice, then, to have said this
much concerning the Divine representations, which,
no doubt, falls short of their accurate explanation,
but which will prevent us, I think, from being ser-
vilely entangled in the resemblance of the types.
But if you should say that we have not mentioned
in order the whole Angelic Powers, or operations,
or likenesses, depicted in the Oracles, we answer in
truth, that we do not possess the supermundane
V science of some; and further, in regard to them,
we have need of another to conduct to light and to
reveal. Other things, however, as being parallel
to the things said, we have omitted, out of regard
to the symmetry of the discourse ; and the hidden-
ness, beyond our capacity, we have honoured by
silence.

St. Michael and All Angels, 1898.

ECCLESIASTICAL HIERARCHY.

CAPUT I.

To my Fellow Presbyter Timothy.

DlONYSIUS THE PRESBYTER.

What is the traditional view of the Ecclesiastical
Hierarchy and what is its purpose $

Section I.
We must, then, most pious of pious sons, demon-
strate from the supermundane and most sacred
Oracles and traditions, that ours is a Hierarchy
of the inspired and Divine and Deifying science,
and of operation, and of consecration, for those
who have been initiated with the initiation of the
sacred revelation derived from the hierarchical mys-
teries. See, however, that you do not put to scorn
things most holy (Holy of Holies a ) ; but rather
treat them reverently, and you will honour the
things of the hidden God by intellectual and obscure
researches, carefully guarding them from the par-
ticipation and defilement of the uninitiated, and
reverently sharing holy things with the holy alone,
by a holy enlightenment. For thus, as the Word
of God b has taught us who feast at His Banquet,
even Jesus Himself— the most supremely Divine

a To"A7ta tup 'hyivv. b ©eoXo^ia.

68 Dionysius the Areopagite

Mind and superessential, the Source and Essence,
and most supremely Divine Power of every Hier-
archy and Sanctification and Divine operation —
illuminates the blessed Beings who are superior
to us, in a manner more clear, and at the same
time more intellectual, and assimilates them to His
own Light, as far as possible; and by our love
of things beautiful elevated to Him, and which
elevates us, folds together our many diversities, and
after perfecting into a uniform and Divine life and
habit and operation, holily bequeaths the power of
the Divine Priesthood ; from which by approaching to
the holy exercise of the priestly office, we ourselves
become nearer to the Beings above us, by assimi-
lation, according to our power, to their abiding and
unchangeable holy steadfastness ; and thus by look-
ing upwards to the blessed and supremely Divine c
self of Jesus, and reverently gazing upon whatever
we are permitted to see, and illuminated with the
knowledge of the visions, we shall be able to be-
come, as regards the science of Divine mysteries,
purified and purifiers ; images of Light, and workers
with God, perfected and perfecting.

Section II.

Then what is the Hierarchy of the Angels d and
Archangels, and of supermundane Principalities and
Authorities, Powers and Lordships, and Divine
Thrones, or of the Beings of the same ranks as
the Thrones— which the Word of God declares to

o owtV- avyr}v. or apx"hv. d See Epistle to Trallians.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 69

be near, and always about God, and with e God,
naming them in the Hebrew tongue Cherubim and
Seraphim — by pondering the sacred ranks and di-
visions of their Orders and Hierarchies, you will
find in the books we have written — not as befits
their dignity but to the best of our ability — and
as the Theology of the most holy Scriptures guided,
when they extolled their Hierarchy. Nevertheless, it
is necessary to say this, that both that, and every
Hierarchy extolled now by us, has one and the same
power, throughout the whole Hierarchical trans-
action ; and that the Hierarch himself, according
to his essence, and analogy, and rank, is initiated in
Divine things, and is deified and imparts to the
subordinates, according to the meetness of each
for the sacred deification which comes to him from
God ; also that the subordinates follow the superior,
and elevate the inferior towards things in advance ;
and that some go before, and, as far as possible,
give the lead to others; and that each, as far as
may be, participates in the truly Beautiful, and
Wise, and Good, through this the inspired and
sacerdotal harmony.

But the Beings and ranks above us, of whom
we have already made a reverent mention, are both
incorporeal, and their Hierarchy is both intelligible
and supermundane ; but let us view our Hierarchy,
comformably to ourselves, abounding in the variety
of the sensible symbols, by which, in proportion
to our capacity, we are conducted, hierarchically
e John i. 1.

y Dionysius the Areopagite

according to our measure, to the uniform deification
—God and Divine virtue. They indeed, as minds,
think, according to laws laid down for themselves ;
but we are led by sensible figures to the Divine
contemplations, as is possible to us. And, to speak
truly, there is One, to Whom all the Godlike aspire,
but they do not partake uniformly of this One
and the Same, but as the Divine balance distributes
to each the meet inheritance. Now these things
have been treated more systematically in the Treatise
concerning "Intelligible and Sensible f ." But now
I will attempt to describe our Hierarchy, both its
source and essence, as best I can ; invoking Jesus,
the source and Perfecting of all Hierarchies.

Section III.
Every Hierarchy, then, is, according to our august
tradition, the whole account of the sacred things
falling under it, a most complete summary of the
sacred rites of this or that Hierarchy, as the case
may be. Our Hierarchy, then, is called, and is,
the comprehensive system of the whole sacred rites
included within it, according to which the divine
Hierarch, being initiated, will have the communi-
cation of all the most sacred things within himself,
as chief* of Hierarchy. For as he who speaks of
Hierarchy speaks of the order of the whole sacred
rites collectively, so he, who mentions Hierarch,
denotes the inspired and godly man— the skilled
in all sacred knowledge— in whom the whole Hier-
' Ap. C. viii. 1 6. g eVc^o*.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 7 1

archy is clearly completed and recognized within
himself.

Head of this Hierarchy is the Fountain of life,
the Essence of Goodness, the one Triad, Cause of
things that be, from Which both being and well-
being come to things that be, by reason of good-
ness 11 . Of this most supremely Divine blessedness
— exalted beyond all, the threefold Monad, the
really Being, — the Will, inscrutable to us, but known
to Itself, is the rational preservation of beings
amongst us and above us ; but that (preservation)
cannot otherwise take place, except those who are
being saved are being deified. Now the assimi-
lation to, and union with, God, as far as attain-
able, is deification. And this is the common goal
of every Hierarchy, — the clinging love towards God
and Divine things divinely and uniformly minis-
tered; and previous to this, the complete and
unswerving removal of things contrary, the know-
ledge of things as they are in themselves ; the
vision and science of sacred truth ; the inspired
communication of the uniform perfection of the
One Itself, as far as attainable; the banquet of
contemplation, nourishing intelligibly, and deifying
every man elevated towards it.

Section IV.
Let us affirm, then, that the supremely Divine
Blessedness, the ' essential Deity, the Source of

h Creation through goodness — not necessity.
1 77 <puati ®e6rr]S.

72 Diony sites the Areopagite

deification, from Which comes the deification of
those deified, bequeathed, by Divine Goodness, the
Hierarchy, for preservation, and deification of all
rational and intellectual Beings. And to the super-
mundane and blessed inheritances there is be-
queathed something more immaterial and intellec-
tual (for Almighty God does not move them to
things divine, from without, but intelligibly, since
they are illuminated as to the most Divine will
from within, with brilliancy pure and immaterial),
but to us — that which has been bequeathed to them,
uniformly, and enveloped, is bequeathed from the
Divinely transmitted Oracles, in a variety and mul-
titude of divisible symbols, as we are able to re-
ceive it. For the Divinely transmitted Oracles are
essence of our Hierarchy. And we affirm that these
Oracles — all such as were given from our godly
initiators in inspired Letters of the Word of God k —
are most august ; and further, whatever our leaders
have revealed to us from the same holy men, by a
less material initiation, and already akin, as it were,
to the Heavenly Hierarchy, from mind to mind,
through the medium of speech, corporeal, indeed,
but nevertheless more immaterial, without writing.
Nor did the inspired Hierarchs transmit 1 these
things, in conceptions clear to the commonalty of
worshippers, but in sacred symbols. For it is not
every one that is hallowed ; nor, as the Oracles
affirm, does knowledge belong to all m .

fc ay loypdcpois 9co\oyiKais A(\tois.
1 Mark iv. II. m I Cor. viii. 7.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 73

Section V.
Necessarily, then, the first leaders of our Hier-
archy, after having been filled themselves with the
sacred gift, from the superessential Godhead, and
sent, by the supremely Divine Goodness, to extend
the same gift successively, and, as godly, earnestly
desiring themselves the elevation and deification of
those after them, presented to us— by their written and
unwritten revelations-in accordance with their sacred
injunctions, things supercelestial, by sensible images,
the enfolded, by variety and multitude, and things Di-
vine, by things human, and things immaterial, by things
material, and the superessential, by things belong-
ing to us. Nor did they do this merely on account
of the unhallowed, to whom it is not permitted even
to touch the symbols, but because our Hierarchy is,
as I said, a kind of symbol adapted to our condition'
which needs things sensible, for our more Divine
elevation from these to things intelligible. Neverthe-
less the reasons of the symbols have been revealed
to the Divine initiators, which it is not permitted to
explain to those who are yet being initiated, know-
ing that the Lawgivers of things divinely transmitted
deliberately arranged the Hierarchy in well-estab-
lished and unconfused ranks, and in proportionate
and sacred distributions of that which was conve-
nient to each, according to fitness. Wherefore
trusting in thy sacred promises (for it is a pious
duty to recall them to thy recollection) — that
since every Hierarchical sacred word is of binding

74 Dionysius the Areopagite

force, thou wilt not communicate to any other but
those Godlike initiators of the same rank with thy-
self, and wilt persuade them to promise, according
to hierarchical regulation, to touch pure things
purely, and to communicate the mysteries of God
to the godly alone, and things perfect to those
capable of perfection, and things altogether most
holy to the holy, I have entrusted this Divine gift
to thee, in addition to many other Hierarchical
gifts.

CAPUT II.

I. Concerning things done in Illumination.

We have, then, reverently affirmed that this is
the purpose of our Hierarchy, viz., our assimilation
and union with God, as far as attainable. And,
as the Divine Oracles teach, we shall attain this
only by the love and the religious performance of
the most worshipful Commandments. For He says :
"He* that loveth Me will keep My Word, and
My Father will love him, and we will come unto
him, and will make Our abode with him." What,
then, is source of the religious performance of the
most august commandments? Our preparation for
the restitution of the supercelestial rest, which forms
the habits of our souls into an aptitude for the
reception of the other sacred sayings and doings °,
the transmission of our holy and most divine re-
generation p. For, as our illustrious Leader used

n John xiv. 23. ibid. i. 13. p ibid. iii. 5.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 75

to say, the very first movement of the mind towards
Divine things is the willing reception of Almighty
God, but the very earliest step of the religious
reception towards the religious performance of the
Divine commandments is the unutterable operation
of our being 1 from God. For if our r being from
God is the Divine engendering, never would he
know, and certainly never perform, any of the Divine
instructions, who had not had his beginning to be
in God. To speak after the manner of men, must
we not first begin to be, and then to do, our affairs ?
Since he, who does not exist at all, has neither
movement nor even beginning; since he, who in
some way exists, alone does, or suffers, those things
suitable to his own nature. This, then, as I think,
is clear. Let us next contemplate the Divine sym-
bols of the birth in God. And I pray, let no
uninitiated person approach the sight 8 ; for neither
is it without danger to gaze upon the glorious
rays of the sun with weak eyes, nor is it without
pertf to put our hand to things above us. For
right was the priesthood of the Law, when rejecting
Osias *, because he put his hand to sacred things ;
and Korah u , because to things sacred above his
capacity; and Nadab x and Abihu, because they
treated things, within their own province, unholily.

q rov ehai Oetws. r See Baptismal Offices.

9 C. 2. s. 62. t 2 Chron. xxvi. 16—21. u Num. xvi.

J — 33- x Ibid- iil- 4.

76 Dionysius the Areopagite

II. Mysterio?i of Illumination.
Section I.
The Hierarch, then, wishing * that all men what-
soever should be saved by their assimilation towards
God, and come to recognition of truth, proclaims
to all the veritable Good News, that God being
compassionate towards those upon earth, out of
His own proper and innate goodness, deigned Him-
self to come to us with outstretched arms, by reason
of loving-kindness towards men ; and, by the union
with Him, to assimilate, like as by fire, things that
have been made one, in proportion to their aptitude
for deification. "For as many as received Him,
to them gave He power 2 to become children of
God — to those who believe on His Name, who were
begotten, not of bloods, nor of will of flesh, but

of God a ."

Section II.

He, who has felt a religious longing to participate
in these truly supermundane gifts, comes to some
one of the initiated, and persuades him to act as
his conductor to the Hierarch. He then professes
wholly to follow the teaching that shall be given
to him, and prays him to undertake the superin-
tendence of his introduction, and of all his after
life. Now he, though religiously longing for his
salvation, when he measures human infirmity against
the loftiness of the undertaking, is suddenly seized

y 1 Tim. ii. 4. z John i. 12, 13.

a Coptic Con. II. 40 ; Ap. C. lib. viii. c. 38.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 7 7

with a shivering and sense of incapacity, neverthe-
less, at last, he agrees, with a good grace, to do
what is requested, and takes and leads him to the
chief Hierarch.

Section III.
He, then, when with joy he has received, as the
sheep upon his shoulders, the two men, and has
first worshipped, glorifies with a mental thanksgiving
and bodily prostration the One beneficent Source b ,
from Which, those who are being called, are called,
and those who are being saved, are saved.

Section IV.
Then collecting a full religious assembly into
the sacred place, for co-operation, and common
rejoicing over the man's salvation, and for thanks-
giving for the Divine Goodness, he first chants a
certain hymn, found in the Oracles, accompanied
by the whole body of the Church; and after this,
when he has kissed the holy table, he advances
to the man before him, and demands of him, what
has brought him here?

Section V.

When the man, out of love to God, has confessed,
according to the instruction of his sponsor, his ungod-
liness , his ignorance of the really beautiful, his in-
sufficiency for the life in God, and prays, through his
holy mediation, to attain to God and Divine things, he
(the Hierarch) testifies to him, that his approach ought
to be entire, as to God Who is All Perfect, and without

b Phil. ii. 13. c iQeoT-qra, Matt. vi. 24 ; Eph. iv. 5.

7 8 Dionysius the Areopagite

blemish ; and when he has expounded to him fully the
godly course of life, and has demanded of him, if he
would thus live, — after his promise he places his right
hand upon his head, and when he has sealed him,
commands the priests to register the man and his v
sponsor.

Section VI.
When these have enrolled the names, he makes
a holy prayer, and when the whole Church have
completed this with him, he looses his sandals, and
removes his clothing, through the Leitourgoi. Then,
when he has placed him facing the west and beating
his hands, averted towards the same quarter, he
commands him thrice to breathe scorn upon Satan,
and further, to profess the words of the renunciation.
When he has witnessed his threefold renunciation,
he turns him back to the east, after he has professed
this thrice ; and when he has looked up to heaven,
and extended his hands thitherward, he commands
him to be enrolled under Christ, and all the Divinely
transmitted Oracles of God. When the man has
done this, he attests again for him his threefold
profession, and again, when he has thrice professed,
after prayer, he gives thanks, and lays his hand upon
him.

Section VII.
When the Deacons have entirely unclothed him,
the Priests bring the holy oil of the anointing. Then
he begins the anointing, through the threefold seal-
ing, and for the rest assigns the man to the Priests,
for- the anointing of his whole body, while himself

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy \ 79

advances to the mother of filial adoption, and when
he has purified the water within it by the holy
invocations, and perfected it by three cruciform
effusions of the altogether most pure Muron d , and
by the same number of injections of the all holy
Muron, and has invoked the sacred melody of the
inspiration of the God-rapt Prophets, he orders the
man to be brought forward; and when one of the
Priests, from the register, has announced him e and
his surety, he is conducted by the Priests near the
water to the hand of the Hierarch, being led by
the hand to him. Then the Hierarch, standing
above, when the Priests have again called aloud
near the Hierarch within the water the name of
the initiated, the Hierarch dips him three times,
invoking the threefold f Subsistence of the Divine
Blessedness, at the three immersions and emersions
of the initiated. The Priests then take him, and
entrust him to the Sponsor and guide of his intro-
duction; and when they, in conjunction with him,
have cast over the initiated appropriate clothing,
they lead him again to the Hierarch, who, when
he has sealed the man with the most Divinely
operating Muron, pronounces him to be hencefor-
ward partaker of the most Divinely initiating Eu-
charist.

d fivpov is the unguent prepared from myrrh, fivpocpeyyris is
shining with such unguent, and ixvpoarayris {fivpov and o-rafa)
dripping with ditto. Ap. Con. lib. ii. c. 14.

e Syr. Doc. p. 60. Clark. f rpiar^v inroaraav.

Heb. i. 3.

80 Dionysius the Areopagite

Section VIII.
When he has finished these things, he elevates
himself from his progression to things secondary,
to the contemplation of things * first, as one, who,
at no time or manner, turns himself to any other
thing whatever than those which are peculiarly his
own, but from things Divine to Divine, — is per-
sistently and always ranging himself under the
banner of the supremely Divine Spirit.

III. Contemplation.
Section I.

This initiation, then, of the holy birth in God,
as in symbols, has nothing unbecoming or irreverent,
nor anything of the sensible images, but (contains)
enigmas of a contemplation worthy of God, likened
to physical and human images. For how should
it appear misleading? Even when the very divine
meaning of the things done is passed over in silence,
h the divine Instruction might convince, religiously
pursuing as it does the good life of the candidate,
enjoining upon him the purification from every kind
of evil, through a virtuous and Divine life, by the
physical cleansing through the agency of water in
a bodily form. This symbolic teaching then of
the things done, even if it had nothing more divine,
would not be without religious value, as I think,
introducing a discipline of a well-regulated life, and
suggesting mysteriously, through the total bodily

8 From outward signs to inward grace. h Catechism.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 81

purification by water, the complete purification from
the evil life.

Section II.
Let this, then, be, for the uninitiated, a conducting
guidance of the soul, which separates, as is meet
things sacred and uniform from multiplicity, and
apportions the harmonious elevation to the Orders
severally in turn. But we, who have ascended
by sacred gradations to the ; sources of the things
performed, and have been religiously taught these
(sources), shall recognize of what moulds they are the
reliefs, and of what invisible things they are the
likenesses. For, as is distinctly shewn in the Trea-
tise concerning "Intelligible and Sensible," sacred
things in sensible forms are copies of things intel-
ligible, to which they lead and shew the way ; and
things intelligible are source and science of things
hierarchical cognizable by the senses.

Section III.
Let us affirm, then, that the goodness of the
Divine Blessedness is always in the same condition
and manner, unfolding the beneficent rays of its own
light upon all the intellectual visions without grudg-
ing. Should, then, the self-choosing self-sufficiency
of the contemplators either turn away from the light
contemplated, by closing, through love of evil, the
faculties for enlightenment naturally implanted within
it, it would be separated from the light present to

G

82 Dionysius the Areopagite

it, not turned away, but shining upon it when short-
sighted and turning its face from light generously
running to it ; or should it overstep the bounds
of the visible given to it in due proportion, and
rashly undertake to gaze upon the rays superior to
its vision, the light indeed will do nothing beyond
its proper functions, but it, by imperfectly approach-
ing things perfect, would not attain to things un-
suitable, and, by stupidly disregarding the due.
proportion, would fail through its own fault.

But, as I said, the Divine Light is always unfolded
beneficently to the intellectual visions, and it is
possible for them to seize it when present, and al-
ways being most ready for the distribution of things
appropriate, in a manner becoming God. To this
imitation the divine Hierarch is fashioned, unfolding
to all, without grudging, the luminous rays of his
inspired teaching, and, after the Divine example,
being most ready to enlighten the proselyte, neither
using a grudging nor an unholy wrath for former
back-slidings or excess, but, after the example of
God, always enlightening by his conducting light
those who approach him, as becomes a Hierarch,
in fitness, and order, and in proportion to the
aptitude of each for holy things.

Section IV.

But, inasmuch as the Divine Being is source of
sacred order, within which the holy Minds regulate
themselves, he, who recurs to the proper view of

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 83

Nature, will see his proper self in what he was
originally, and will acquire this, as the first holy gift,
from his recovery to the light. Now he, who has
well looked upon his own proper condition with
unbiassed eyes, will depart from the gloomy recesses
of ignorance, but being imperfect he will not, of his
own accord, at once desire the most perfect union
and participation of God, but little by little will
be carried orderly and reverently through things
present to things more forward, and through these
to things foremost, and when perfected, to the
supremely Divine summit. An illustration of this
decorous and sacred order is the modesty of the
proselyte, and his prudence in his own affairs in hav-
ing the sponsor as leader of the way to the Hierarch.
The Divine Blessedness receives the man, thus con-
ducted, into communion with Itself, and imparts to
him the proper light as a kind of sign, making him
godly k and sharer of the inheritance of the godly,
and sacred ordering ; of which things the Hierarchs
sea 1 , given to the proselyte, and the saving enrolment
of the priests are a sacred symbol, registering him
amongst those who are being saved, and placing
in the sacred memorials, beside himself also his
sponsor, — the one indeed, as a true lover of the
life-giving way to truth and a companion of a godly
guide, and the other, as an unerring conductor of
his follower by the Divinely-taught directions.

84 Dionysius the Areopagite

Section V.
Yet it is not possible to hold, conjointly, qualities
thoroughly opposed, nor that a man who has had
a certain fellowship with the One should have di-
vided lives, if he clings to the firm participation
in the One ; but he must be resistless and resolute,
as regards all separations from the uniform. This
it is which the teaching of the symbols reverently
and enigmatically intimates, by stripping the prose-
lyte, as it were, of his former life, and discarding
to the very utmost the habits within that life, makes
him stand naked and barefoot, looking away towards
the west, whilst he spurns, by the aversion of his
hands, the participations in the gloomy baseness,
and breathes out, as it were, the habit of dissimilarity
which he had acquired, and professes the entire
renunciation of everything contrary to the Divine
likeness. When the man has thus become invincible
and separate from evil, it turns him towards the
east, declaring clearly that his position and recovery
will be purely in the Divine Light, in the complete
separation from baseness ; and receiving his sacred
promises of entire consort with the One, since he
has become uniform through love of the truth. Yet
it is pretty evident, as I think, to those versed in
Hierarchical matters, that things intellectual 1 ac-
quire the unchangeableness of the Godlike habit,
by continuous and persistent struggles towards one m ,
and by the entire destruction and annihilation of

Ta poepi. m John

xvii. 21,

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 85

things contrary. For it is necessary that a man
should not only depart from every kind of baseness,
but he must be also bravely obdurate and ever
fearless against the baneful submission to it. Nor
must he, at any time, become remiss in his sacred
love of the truth, but with all his power persistently
and perpetually be elevated towards it, always re-
ligiously pursuing his upward course, to the more
perfect mysteries of the Godhead.

Section VI.

Now you may see the distinct illustrations of these
things in the religious rites performed by the Hier-
arch. For the Godlike Hierarch starts with the
holy anointing, and the Priests under him complete
the Divine service of the Chrism, summoning in
type the man initiated to the holy contests, within
which he is placed under Christ as Umpire : since,
as God, He is Institutor of the awards of contest,
and as wise, He placed its laws, and as generous,
the prizes suitable to the victors n . And this is yet
more Divine, since as good, He devotedly entered
the lists with them, contending, on behalf of their
freedom and victory, for their power over death* 1
and destruction \ he who is being initiated will
enter the contests, as those of God, rejoicing, and
abides by the regulations of the Wise, and contends
according to them, without transgression, holding

n I Cor. ii. 9. p s# ixxxviji. ^

P 2 Tim. i. 10. <i Ps. xvi. 10.

86 Dionysius the Areopagite

fast the hope of the beautiful rewards, as being
enrolled under a good Lord and Leader of the
awards ; and when after following in the Divine
footsteps of the first of athletes, through goodness,
he has overthrown, in his struggles after the Divine
example, the energies and impulses opposed to his
deification, he dies with Christ — to speak mystically
— to sin, in Baptism.

Section VII.
And consider attentively, I pray, with what ap-
propriateness the holy symbols are presented. For
since death is with us not an annihilation of being,
as others surmise, but the separating of things united,
leading to that which is invisible to us, the soul
indeed becoming invisible through deprivation of
the body, and the body, through being buried in
earth in consequence of one of its bodily changes,
becoming invisible to human ken, appropriately, the
whole covering by water would be taken as an image
of death, and the invisible tomb. The symbolical
teaching, then, reveals in mystery that the man
baptized according to religious rites, imitates, so
far as Divine imitation is attainable to men, by the
three immersions in the water, the supremely Divine
death of the Life-giving Jesus, Who spent three
days r and three nights in the tomb, in Whom,
according to the mystical and secret teaching of
the sacred text, the Prince of the world found
nothing 8 .

r TpiTtlHtpOVVKTOV TCNpTJS. 8 John XIV. 3O.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 87

Section VIII.

Next, they throw garments, white as light, over
the man initiated. For by his manly and Godlike
insensibility to contrary passions, and by his per-
sistent inclination towards the One, the unadorned
is adorned, and the shapeless takes shape, being-
made brilliant by his luminous life.

But the perfecting unction of the Muron makes
the man initiated of good odour, for the holy per-
fecting of the Divine birth unites those who have
been perfected to the supremely Divine Spirit. Now
the * overshadowing which makes intelligibly of a
good savour, and perfect, as being most unutterable,
I leave to the u mental consciousness of those who
are deemed worthy of the sacred and deifying partici-
pation of the Holy Spirit within their mind.

At the conclusion of all, the Hierarch calls the
man initiated to the most Holy Eucharist, and
imparts to him the communion of the perfecting
mysteries.

CAPUT III.
I. Concerning things accomplished in the Synaxis.

Courage, then, since we have made mention of
this (Eucharist) which we may not pass over to
celebrate any other Hierarchical function in pre-
ference to it. For according to our illustrious

* iirKpoiTriais. u iiuyvwvai voep&s.

88 Diotiysius the Areopagite

Leader, it is x " initiation of initiations," and one
must first lay down the Divine description of it,
before the rest, from the inspired and hierarchical
science of the Oracles, and then be borne by the
supremely Divine Spirit to its sacred contemplation.
First, let us reverently consider this; for what
reason that, which is common also to the other
Hierarchical initiations, is pre-eminently attributed
to it, beyond the rest; and it is uniquely called,
" Communion and Synaxis," when each consecrating
function both collects our divided lives into uniform
deification, and gives communion and union with
the One, by the Godlike folding together of our
diversities. Now we affirm that the Perfecting by
the communications of the other Hierarchical sym-
bols springs from the supremely Divine and per-
fecting gifts of it. For it scarcely ever happens,
that any Hierarchical initiation is completed without
the most Divine Eucharist, as head of the things
done in each, ministering the collecting of the
person initiated to the One, and completing his
communion with God, by the Divinely transmitted
gift of the perfecting mysteries. If, then, each of
the Hierarchical initiations, being indeed incom-
plete, will not make perfect our communion and
our gathering to the One, even its being initiation
is precluded on account of the lack of completeness.
Now since the imparting of the supremely Divine
mysteries to the man initiated is the head and
tail of every initiation, naturally then the Hier-

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 89

archical judgment hit upon an appellation proper
to it, from the truth of the facts. Thus, for instance,
with regard to the holy initiation of the Divine
birth; since it imparts first-Light, and is head of
all the Divine illuminations, we celebrate the true
appellation from the enlightening effected. For,
though it be common to all Hierarchical functions
to impart the gift of sacred light to those initiated,
yet it y gave to me the power to see 'first, and through
its first light I am enlightened to gaze upon the
other religious rites. Having said this, let us mi-
nutely investigate and examine hierarchically the
accurate administration and contemplation of the
most pure initiation, in every particular.

// Mysterion 7 - of Synaxis, that is, Communion.

The Hierarch, having completed a reverent prayer,
near the Divine Altar, starts with the incensing,
and proceeds to every part of the enclosure of the
sacred place; he then returns to the Divine Altar,
and begins the sacred chanting of the Psalms, the
whole ecclesiastical assembly chanting, with him,
the sacred language of the Psalter. Next follows
the reading of the Holy Scriptures by the Leitourgoi.
After these readings the catechumens quit the sacred
enclosure, as well as the "possessed," and the

y Baptism, Ap. C. lib. 3, c. 16.

z See Traicte de la Liturgie ou S. Messe selon l'usage et la
forme des apostres, et de leur disciple Sainct Denys, Apostre
des Francois, par. Gilb. Genebrard, archevesque dAix.

9 o Diony sins the Areopagite

penitents. But those who are deemed worthy of
the sight and participation of the Divine Mysteries
remain. Of the Leitourgoi, some stand near the
closed gates of the sanctuary, whilst others perform
some other duty of their own rank. But chosen
members of the ministering Order with the Priests
lay the holy Bread and the Cup of Blessing upon
the Divine Altar, whilst the universal Song a of
Praise is being professed beforehand by the whole
body of the Church. Added to these, the Divine
Hierarch makes a sacred prayer, and proclaims the
holy Peace to all. When all have kissed each other,
the mystical proclamation of the holy tablets is
performed. When the Hierarch and the Priests
have washed their hands in water, the Hierarch
stands in the midst of the Divine Altar, and the
chosen Deacons alone, with the Priests, stand around.
The Hierarch, when he has sung the sacred works
of God, ministers things most divine, and brings
to view the things sung, through the symbols rever-
ently exposed b , and when he has shewn the gifts
of the works of God c , he first proceeds to the sacred
participation of the same, and turns and exhorts
the others. When he has received and distributed
the supremely Divine Communion, he terminates
with a holy thanksgiving; whilst the multitude have
merely glanced at the Divine symbols alone, he
is ever conducted by the Divine Spirit, as becomes

a Ap. C. lib. 8, s. 12, Lit. of Dionysius, p. 189.
b As in Denmark. c Q^v P1 «W- Divine Mysteries ?

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 9 1

a Hierarch, in the purity of a Godlike condition,
to the holy sources of the things performed, in
blessed and intelligible visions.

III. Contemplation.
Section I.

Here then, too, O excellent son, after the images,
I come in due order and reverence to the Godlike
reality of the archetypes, saying here to those yet
being initiated, for the harmonious guidance of their
souls, that the varied and sacred composition of the
symbols is not without spiritual contemplation for
them, as merely presented superficially. For the
most sacred chants and readings of the Oracles
teach them a discipline of a virtuous life, and pre-
vious to this, the complete purification from de-
structive evil ; and the most Divine, and common,
and peaceful distribution of one and the same, both
Bread and Cup, enjoins upon them a godly fellow-
ship in character, as having a fellowship in food,
and recalls to their memory the most Divine Supper,
and arch-symbol of the rites performed, agreeably
with which the Founder of the symbols Himself
excludes, most justly, him who had supped with
Him on the holy things, not piously d and in a manner
suitable to his character; teaching at once, clearly

d John xiii. II. St. Cyprian thought Judas was' excluded ;
St. Augustine not. See Cornelius a Lapide on John xiii. II
Ap. C. 5, s. 14.

92 Dionysius the Artopagite

and Divinely, that the approach to Divine mysteries
with a sincere mind confers, on those who draw nigh,
the participation in a gift according to their own
character.

Section II.

Let us, then, as I said, leave behind these things,
beautifully depicted upon the entrance of the in-
nermost shrine, as being sufficient for those, who are
yet incomplete for contemplation, and let us pro-
ceed from the effects to the causes ; and then, Jesus
lighting the way, we shall view our holy Synaxis,
and the comely contemplation of things intelligible,
which makes radiantly manifest the blessed beauty
of the archetypes. But, oh, most Divine and holy
initiation, uncovering the folds of the dark mysteries
enveloping thee in symbols, be manifest to us in
thy bright glory, and fill our intellectual visions with
single and unconcealed light.

Section III.

We must, then, in my opinion, pass within the All
Holy Mysteries, after we have laid bare the intelligible
of the first of the votive gifts, to gaze upon its God-
like beauty, and view the Hierarch, divinely going
with sweet fragrance from the Divine Altar to the
furthermost bounds of the holy place, and again
returning to it to complete the function. For
the Blessedness, supremely Divine above all, even
if, through Divine goodness, It goes forth to the
communion of the holy who participate in It, yet

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 93

It never goes outside its essential unmoved position
and steadfastness ; and illuminates all the Godlike in
due degree, being always self-centred, and in no-
wise moved from its own proper identity; so, too,
the Divine initiation (sacrament) of the Synaxis,
although it has a unique, and simple, and enfolded
Source, is multiplied, out of love towards man, into
the holy variety of the symbols, and travels through
the whole range of the supremely Divine description ;
yet uniformly it is again collected from these, into
its own proper Monady, and unifies those who are
being reverently conducted towards it. In the same
Godlike manner, the Divine Hierarch, if he benignly
lowers to his subordinates his own unique Hier-
archical science, by using the multiplicities of the
holy enigmas, yet again, as absolute, and not to
be held in check by smaller things, he is restored to
his proper headship e without diminution, and, when
he has made the intellectual entry of himself to the
One, he sees clearly the uniform raisons d'etre* of
the things done, as he makes the goal of his philan-
thropic progress to things secondary the more Di-
vine g return to things primary.

Section IV.

The chanting of the Psalms, being co-essential
with almost all the Hierarchical mysteries, was not
likely to be separated from the most Hierarchical of
all. For every holy and inspired Scripture sets forth

e &pxh v - f \6yovs. s Hieracles, p. 41.

94 Diony sius the Areopagite

for those meet for deification, either the originated
beginning 11 and ordering of things from God; or
the Hierarchy 1 and polity of the Law; or the dis-
tributions 11 and possessions of the inheritances of
the people of God ; or the understanding of sacred
judges \ or of wise kings, or of inspired Priests : or
philosophy 111 of men of old time, unshaken" in en-
durances of the things let loose in variety and
multitude ; or the treasures of wisdom for the conduct
of life ; or songs and inspired ° pictures of Divine
Loves ; or the declaratory predictions p of things to
come; q or the Theandric works of Jesus 1- ; or the
God-transmitted 8 and God- imitating polities and
holy teachings of His Disciples, or the hidden and
mystic gaze of the beloved and divinely sweet of the
disciples, or the supermundane theology of Jesus ;
and implanted them in the holy and Godlike in-
structions of the mystic rites. Now the sacred de-
scription of the Divine Odes*, whose purpose is
to sing the words and works of God throughout,
and to praise the holy w r ords and works of godly
men, forms an universal Ode and narrative of things
Divine, and makes, in those who inspiredly u recite
it, a habit suitable for the reception and distribution
of every Hierarchical mystery.

h Genesis i. * Leviticus and Deut. k Numbers.

1 Judges and Kings. m Proverbs and Wisdom. n Job.

o Canticles. P Prophets. 9 avdpiitas 'Itjctov Oeovpylas.

t Gospels. s Acts and Epistles. t Psalms.

u ivOiws IspoKoyovaiv.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 95

Section V.

When, then, the comprehensive melody of the
holy Hymns has harmonized the habits of our souls
to the things which are presently to be ministered,
and, by the unison of the Divine Odes, as one
and concordant chorus of holy men, has estab-
lished an accord with things Divine, and them-
selves x , and one another, the things, more strained
and obscure in the intellectual language of the
mystic Psalms, are expanded by the most holy
lections of the inspired writings, through more full
and distinct images and narratives. He, who de-
voutly contemplates these, will perceive the uniform
and one conspiration, as being moved by One, the
supremely Divine Spirit. Hence, naturally, in the
history of the world, after the more ancient y tra-
dition, the new Covenant is proclaimed ; the inspired
and Hierarchical order teaching this, as I think,
that the one affirmed the Divine works of Jesus,
as to come ; but the other accomplished ; and as
that described the truth in figures, this shewed it
present. For the accomplishment, within this, of
the predictions of that, established the truth, and
the work of God is a consummation of the Word
of God.

Section VI.

Those who absolutely have no ear for these sacred
initiations do not even recognize the images,—

x Republic, lib. iv. ad finem. Dulac, p. 426-7.
y The Law and the Prophets.

96 Dionysius the Areopagite

unblushingly rejecting the saving revelation of the
Divine Birth, and in opposition to the Oracles reply
to their destruction, "Thy ways I do not wish to
know 2 ."

Now the regulation of the holy Hierarchy permits
the catechumens, and the possessed, and the peni-
tents, to hear the sacred chanting of the Psalms,
and the inspired reading of the all-Holy Scriptures ;
but it does not invite them to the next religious
services and contemplations, but only the eyes of
the initiated. For the Godlike Hierarchy is full of
reverent justice, and distributes savingly to each,
according to their due, bequeathing savingly the
harmonious communication of each of the things
Divine, in measure, and proportion, and due time.
The lowest rank, then, is assigned to the cate-
chumens, for they are without participation and
instruction in every Hierarchical initiation, not even
having the being in God by Divine Birth, but are
yet being brought to a Birth by the Paternal Oracles,
and moulded, by life-giving formations, towards the
blessed introduction to their first life and first light
from Birth in God. As, then, children after the
flesh, if, whilst immature and unformed, they should
anticipate their proper delivery, as untimely born and
abortions, will fall to earth without life and without
light ; and no one, in his senses, would say from
what he saw, that they, released from the darkness
of the womb, were brought to the light (for the

z Job xxi. 14.
» See Plato, Thet. i. 114, 115. Dulac, 429.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. g 7

medical authority, which is learned in the functions
of the body, would say that light operates on things
receptive of light) ; so also the all-wise science of
religious rites brings these first to delivery, by the
preparatory nourishment of the formative and life-
giving Oracles ; and when it has made their person
ripe for Divine Birth, gives to them savingly, in
due order, the participation in things luminous and
perfecting; but, at present, it separates things per-
fect from them as imperfect, consulting the good
order of sacred things, and the delivery and life
of the catechumens, in a Godlike order of the Hier-
archical rites.

Section VII.
Now the multitude of the possessed indeed is
unholy, but it is next above the catechumens, which
is lowest. Nor is that which has received a certain
participation in the most holy offices, but is yet
entangled by contrary qualities, whether enchant-
ments or terrors, on a par, as I think, with the
altogether uninitiated and entirely uncommunicated
in the Divine initiations; but, even for them, the
view and participation in the holy, mysteries is con-
tracted, and very properly. For, if it be true that
the altogether godly man, the worthy partaker of the
Divine mysteries, the one carried to the very summit
of the Divine likeness, to the best of his powers,
in complete and most perfect deifications, does not
even perform the things of the flesh, beyond the
most necessary requirements of nature, and then as

H

98 Diony sius the Areopagite

a parergon, but will be, at the same time, a temple,
and a follower, according to his ability, of the
supremely Divine Spirit, in the highest deification,
implanting like in like ; — such an one as this
would never be possessed by opposing phantoms
or fears, but will laugh them to scorn, and when
they approach, will cast them down and put them
to flight, and will act rather than comply, and
in addition to the passionless and indomitableness
of his own character, will be seen also a physician
to others, for such ''possessions" as these b ; (and
I think further, yea, rather, I know certainly that
the most impartial discrimination of Hierarchical
persons knows more than they c , that such as are
possessed with a most detestable possession, by
departing from the Godlike life, become of one
mind and one condition with destructive demons,
by turning themselves from things that really are,
and undying possessions, and everlasting pleasures,
for the sake of the most base and impassioned folly
destructive to themselves; and by desiring and
pursuing the earthly variableness, and the perish-
able and corrupting pleasures, and the unstable
comfort in things foreign to their nature, not real
but seeming;) these then, first, and more properly
than those, were shut out by the discriminating
authority of the Deacon; for it is not permittee!
to them to have part in any other holy function
than the teaching of the Oracles, which is likely
to turn them to better things. For, if the super*
b ^ V€ pynndruv. c The energoumenoi.

on the Eccletiastical Hierarchy. 99

mundane Service of the Divine Mysteries excludes
those under penitence, and those who have already
attained it, not permitting anything to come near
which is not completely perfect, and proclaims, and
this in all sincerity, that " I am unseen and uncom-
municated by those who are in any respect imper-
fectly weak as regards the summit of the Divine
Likeness" (for that altogether most pure voice scares
away even those who cannot be associated with
the worthy partakers of the most Divine mysteries) ;
how much more, then, will the multitude of those
who are under the sway of their passions be un-
hallowed and alien from every sight and partici-
pation in the holy mysteries. When, then, the un-
initiated in the mysteries, and the imperfect, and
with them the apostates from the religious life,
and after them, those who through unmanliness
are prone to the fears and fancies of contrary
influences, as not reaching through the persistent
and indomitable inclination towards godliness, the
stability and activity of a Godlike condition ; then,
in addition to these, those who have separated in-
deed from the contrary life, but have not yet been
cleansed from its imaginations by a godly and pure
habit and love, and next, those who are not al-
together uniform, and to use an expression of the
Law, "entirely without spot and blemish," when
these have been excluded from the divine temple
and the service which is too high for them, the
all-holy ministers and loving contemplators of things
all-holy, gazing reverently upon the most pure rite,

ioo Dionysius the Areopagite

sing in an universal Hymn of Praise d the Author
and Giver of all good, from Whom the saving
mystic Rites were exhibited to us, which divinely
work the sacred deification of those being initiated.
Now this Hymn some indeed call a Hymn of Praise,
others, the symbol of worship, but others, as I think,
more divinely, a Hierarchical thanksgiving, as giving
a summary of the holy gifts which come to us from
God. For, it seems to me the record e of all the
works of. God related to have been done for us in
song, which, after it had benevolently fixed our
being and life, and moulded the Divine likeness
in ourselves to beautiful archetypes, and placed us
in participation of a more Divine condition and
elevation ; but when it beheld the dearth of Divine
gifts, which came upon us by our heedlessness, is
declared to have called us back to our first condi-
tion, by goods restored, and by the complete as-
sumption f of what was ours, to have made good the
most perfect impartation of His own, and thus to
have given to us a participation in God and Divine
things.

Section VIII.

When the supremely Divine love towards Man

has thus been religiously celebrated, the Divine

Bread is presented, veiled, and likewise the Cup

of Blessing, and the most Divine greeting is de-

d ifjLvo\oyla Ka6o\iKr}. The whole Psalter is said in Liturgy
of St. James before celebration.
6 Liturgy of Dionysius, p. 191. f Incarnation.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 101

voutly performed, and the mystic and supermundane
recital of the holy-written tablets. Tor it is not
possible to be collected to the One, and to par-
take of the peaceful union with the One, when
people are divided amongst themselves. For if,
being illuminated by the contemplation and know-
ledge of the One, we would be united to an uni-
form and Divine agreement, we must not permit
ourselves to descend to divided lusts, from which
are formed earthly enmities, envious and passionate,
against that which is according to nature. This
unified and undivided life is, in my opinion, estab-
lished by the holy service of the " peace," which es-
tablishes like in like, and separates the Divine and
unified visions from things divided. The recital of
the holy tablets after the " peace " proclaims those
who have passed through life holily, and have
reached the term of a virtuous life without falter-
ing, urging and conducting us to their blessed con-
dition and Divine repose, through similarity to them,
and, announcing them as living, and, as the Word
of God says, " not dead, but as having passed from
death to a most divine life V

Section IX.

But observe that they are enrolled in the holy
memorials, not as though the Divine memory were
represented under the figure of a memorial, after
the manner of men ; but as one might say, with

& I John iii. 14.

102 Dionysius the Areopagite

reverence towards God, as beseems the august and
unfailing knowledge in God of those who have
been perfected in the likeness of God. For " He
knoweth," say the Oracles, "them that are His h ,"
and "precious, in the sight of the Lord, is the death
of His saints 1 , "death of saints," being said, instead
of the perfection in holiness. And bear this reli-
giously in mind, that when the worshipful symbols
have been placed on the Divine Altar, through
which (symbols) the Christ is signified and partaken,
there is inseparably present the reading of the re-
gister of the holy persons, signifying the indivisible
conjunction of their supermundane and sacred union
with Him. When these things have been ministered,
according to the regulations described, the Hierarch,
standing before the most holy symbols, washes his
hands with water, together with the reverend order
of the Priests. Because, as the Oracles testify, when
a man has been washed, he needs no other washing,
except that of his extremities J, i.e. his lowest ; through
which extreme cleansing he will be resistless' and
free, as altogether uniform, in a sanctified habit of
the Divine Likeness, and advancing in a goodly
manner to things secondary, and being turned again
uniquely to the One, he will make his return, with-
out spot and blemish, as preserving the fulness and
completeness of the Divine Likeness.

h 2 Tim. ii. 1 9. i p s . cxvi# I5

J John xiii. 10.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 103

Section X.

There was indeed the sacred laver, as we have
said, in the Hierarchy of the Law k ; and the pre-
sent cleansing of the hands of the Hierarch and the
Priests suggests it. For it behoves those who ap-
proach the most hallowed service to be purified even
to the remotest imaginations of the soul, through
likeness to it, and, as far as possible, to draw nigh ;
for thus they will shed around more visibly the
Divine manifestations, since the supermundane
flashes permit their own splendour to pass more
thoroughly and brilliantly into the brightness of
mirrors like themselves. Further, the cleansing of
the Hierarch and the Priests to their extremities,
i.e. lowest, takes place before the most holy symbols,
as in the presence of Christ, Who surveys all our
most secret thoughts, and since the utmost purifi-
cation is established under His all-surveying scrutiny,
and most just and unflinching judgment, the Hierarch
thus becomes one with the things Divine, and, when
he has extolled the holy works of God, he ministers
things most Divine, and brings to view the things
being sung 1 .

Section XL

We will now explain, in detail, to the best of our

ability, certain works of God, of which we spoke.

For / am not competent to sing all, much less to

know accurately, and to reveal their mysteries to

k Deut. xxi. 6. 1 As is the use in Denmark.

*°4 Dionysius the Areopagite

others. Now whatever things have been sung and
ministered by the inspired Hierarchy agreeably to
the Oracles, these we will declare, as far as attainable
to us, invoking the Hierarchical inspiration to our
aid. When, in the beginning, our human nature had
thoughtlessly fallen from the good things of God it
received, by inheritance, the life subject to many
passions, and the goal of the destructive death »
Por, as a natural consequence, the pernicious fallin-
away from genuine goodness and the transgression
or the sacred Law in Paradise delivered the man
fretted with the life-giving yoke, to his own down-
ward inclinations and the enticing and hostile wiles
of the adversary-the contraries of the divine goods •
thence it pitiably exchanged for the eternal, the
mortal, and, having had its own origin in deadly
generations, the goal naturally corresponded with the
beginning ; but having willingly fallen from the Di-
vine and elevating life, it was carried to the contrary
extremity,-the variableness of many passions, and
lead astray, and turned aside from the strait way
leading to the true God,-and subjected to destruc-
tive and evil-working multitudes— naturally forgot
that it was worshipping, not gods, or friends, but
enemies. Now when these had treated it harshly,
according to their own cruelty, it fell pitiably into
danger of annihilation and destruction; but the
boundless Loving-kindness of the supremely Divine
goodness towards man did not, in Its benevolence,
withdraw from us Its spontaneous forethought, but
■ The Fall.

I

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 105

having truly participated sinlessly in all tilings be-
longing to us n , and having been made one with our
lowliness in connection with the unconfused and
flawless possession of Its own properties in full per-
fection, It bequeathed to us, as henceforth members
of the same family, the communion with Itself, and
proclaimed us partakers of Its own beautiful things ;
having, as the secret teaching holds, loosed the
power of the rebellious multiplicity, which was
against us; not by force, as having the upper hand,
but, according to the Logion, mystically transmitted
to us, "in judgment and righteousness p."

The things within us, then, It benevolently changed
to the entire contrary. For the lightless within our
mind It filled with blessed and most Divine Light,
and adorned the formless with Godlike beauties ; the
tabernacle 1 of our soul It liberated from most
damnable passions and destructive stains by a per-
fected deliverance of our being which was all but
prostrate, by shewing to us a supermundane eleva-
tion, and an inspired polity in our religious assimi-
lation to Itself, as far as is possible.

Section XII.
But how could the Divine imitation otherwise
become ours, unless the remembrance of the most
holy works of God were perpetually being renewed
by the mystical teachings and ministrations of the
Hierarchy? This, then, we do, as the Oracles say,

n Heb. iv. 15. ° Ps. lxxiv. 14. p Ibid> xcv

111. 2.

q Plato, Crat. i. 295.

1 06 Diony sius the AreopagiU

"for Its remembrance-" Wherefore the Divine
Hierarch, standing before the Divine Altar, extols
the aforesaid holy works of God, which proceed from
the most divine forethought of Jesus on our behalf,
which He accomplished for preservation of our race
»>y the good pleasure of the most Holy Father in the
Holy Spirit, according to the Logion ». When he
has extolled their majesty, and gazed, with intel-
lectual eyes, upon their intelligible contemplation
he proceeds to their symbolical ministration,— and
this,— as transmitted from God. Whence after the
holy hymns of the works of God, he piously and
as becomes a hierarch, deprecates his own unworthi-
ness for a service above his merits, first, reverently
crying aloud to Him, -Thou hast said, This do for
My remembrance*." Then, "having asked to be-
come meet for this the God-imitating of service and
to consecrate things Divine by the assimilation to
Christ Himself, and to distribute them altogether
purely, and that those who shall partake of things
holy may receive them holily, he consecrates things
most Divine, and brings to view through the svmbols
reverently exposed the things whose praises are
being sung. For when he has unveiled the veiled
and undivided Bread, and divided it into many, and
has divided the Oneness of the Cup to all, he
symbolically multiplies and distributes the unity
completing in these an altogether most holy minis-
tration. For the "one," and "simple," and "hid-
r Luk, xxii. 19. s Ps> xl 6 _ 8 t Luke xx . L ^

u Prayer of humble access.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 107

den," of Jesus, the most supremely Divine Word,
by His incarnation amongst us, came forth, out of
goodness and love towards man, to the compound
and visible, and benevo^ntly devised the unifying
communion, having united, to the utmost, our low-
liness to the most Divine of Himself; if indeed we
have been fitted to Him ; as members to a body,
after the identity of a blameless and Divine life, and
have not, by being killed through destructive passions,
become inharmonious, and unfastened, and unyoked,
to the godly and most healthy members. For, if we
aspire to communion with Him, we must keep our
eye fixed upon His most godly Life in the flesh, and
we must retrace our path to the Godlike and blame-
less habit of Its holy sinlessness by assimilation to
It ; for thus He will communicate harmoniously to
us the communion with the similar.

Section XIII.

The Hierarch makes known these things to those
who are living religiously, by bringing the veiled gifts
to view, by dividing their oneness into many, and by
making the recipients partakers of them, by the ut-
most union of the things distributed with those who x
receive them. For he delineates in these things
under sensible forms our intelligible life in figures,
by bringing to view the Christ Jesus from the Hidden
within the Divine Being, out of love to man, made
like unto us by the all -perfect and unconfused

x 7rp2>$ to iv ols yiyvtTai.

108 Dioiiysius the Areopagite

incarnation in our race, from us, and advancing to
the divided condition of ourselves, without change
from the essential One, and calling the human race,
through this beneficent love of man, into partici-
pation with Himself and His own good things, pro-
vided we are united to His most Divine Life by our
assimilation to it, as far as possible ; and by this,
in very truth, we shall have been perfected, as
partakers of God and of Divine things.

Section XIV.

Having received and distributed the supremely
Divine Communion, he terminates with a holy thanks-
giving, in which the whole body of the Church take
part. For the Communion precedes the imparting,
and the reception of the mysteries, the mystic dis-
tribution. For this is the universal regulation and
order of the Divine Mysteries, that the reverend
Leader should first partake, and be filled with the
gifts, to be imparted, through him, from God' to
others, and so impart to others also. Wherefore,
those who rashly content themselves with the in-
spired instructions, in preference to a life and con-
dition agreeable to the same, are profane, and
entirely alien from the sacred regulation established.
For, as in the case of the bright shining of the sun,
the more delicate and luminous substances, being
first filled with the brilliancy flowing into them,
brightly impart their overflowing light to things after
them ; so it is not tolerable that one, who has not

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 109

become altogether Godlike in his whole character,
and proved to be in harmony with the Divine
influence and judgment, should become Leader to
others, in the altogether divine.

Section XV.

Meanwhile, the whole order of the Priests having
been collected together in hierarchical order, and
communicated in the most Divine mysteries, finishes
with a holy thanksgiving, after having recognized
and sung the favours of the works of God, according
to their degree. So that those, who have not par-
taken and are ignorant of things Divine, would not
attain to thanksgiving, although the most Divine
gifts are, in their essential nature, worthy of thanks-
giving. But, as I said, not having wished even to
look at the Divine gifts, from their inclination to
things inferior, they have remained throughout un-
gracious towards the boundless graces of the works
of God. " Taste and see," say the Oracles, for, by
the sacred initiation of things Divine, the initiated
recognize their munificent graces, and, by gazing with
utmost reverence upon their most Divine height and
breadth in the participation, they will sing the super-
celestial beneficent works of the Godhead with gra-
cious thanksgiving.

1 1 o Dionysius the Areopagite

CAPUT IV.

/. Concern ino things performed in the Muron, and
concerning things perfected in it.

So great and so beautiful are the intelligible
visions of the most holy Synaxis, which minister
hierarchically, as we have often said, our partici-
pation in, and collection towards, the One. But
there is another perfecting Service of the same rank,
which our Leaders name "Initiation of Muron," by
contemplating whose parts in due order, in accor-
dance with the sacred images, we shall thus be
borne, by hierarchical contemplations, to its One-
ness through its parts.

II. Mysterion of Initiation of Muron*.
In the same way as in the Synaxis, the orders
of the imperfect are dismissed, that is, after the
hierarchical procession has made the whole circuit
of the temple, attended with fragrant incense ; and
the chanting of the Psalms, and the reading of the
most Divine Oracles. Then the Hierarch takes the
Muron and places it, veiled under twelve sacred
wings, upon the Divine Altar, whilst all cry aloud,
with most devout voice, the sacred melody of the
inspiration of the God-rapt Prophets, and when he
has finished the prayer offered over it, he uses it

y Ap. C. iii. s. 17 ; viii. s. 28. See note, p. 68. The Greeks
have two kinds of sacred oil or Unguent, one specially blessed
or consecrated by the Bishop, and another not necessarily so.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy . 1 1 t

in the most holy mystic Rites of things being
hallowed, for almost every Hierarchical consecra-
tion.

ITT. Contemplation.
Section I.
The elementary teaching, then, of this the per-
fecting service, through the things done over the
Divine Muron, shews this, in my judgment, that,
that which is holy and of sweet savour in the minds
of devout men is covered, as with a veil, since it
Divinely enjoins upon holy men to have their
beautiful and well-savoured assimilations in virtue
to the hidden God not seen for vain glory. For
the hidden comeliness of God is unsullied, and is
sweet beyond conception, and manifested for spiri-
tual contemplation to the intellectual alone, through
a desire to have the unsullied images of virtue in
souls of the same pattern. For by looking away
from the undistorted and well imitated image of
the Godlike virtue to that contemplated and fragrant
beauty, he thus moulds and fashions it to the most
beautiful imitation. And, as in the case of sensible
images, if the artist look without distraction upon the
archetypal form, not distracted by sight of anything
else, or in any way divided in attention, he will dupli-
cate, if I may so speak, the very person that is being
sketched, whoever he may be, and will shew the
reality in the likeness, and the archetype in the
image, and each in each, save the difference of
substance ; thus, to copyists who love the beautiful

1 1 2 Dionysins the Areopagite

in mind, the persistent and unflinching contempla-
tion of the sweet-savoured and hidden beauty will
confer the unerring and most Godlike appearance 2
Naturally, then, the divine copyists, who unflinching'
ly mould their own intellectual contemplation to the
superessentially sweet and contemplated comeliness,
do none of their divinely imitated virtues "to be seen
of men V as the Divine text expresses it; but rever-
ently gaze upon the most holy things of the Church
veiled in the Divine Muron as in a figure. Where-
fore, these also, by religiously concealing that which
is holy and most Divine in virtue within their God-
like and God-engraved mind, look away to the arche-
typal conception alone; for not only are they blind
to things dissimilar, but neither are they drawn down
to gaze upon them. Wherefore, as becomes their
character, they do neither love things, merely seeming
good and just, but those really being such ; nor do
they look to opinion, upon which the multitude ir-
rationally congratulate themselves, but, after the
Divine example, by distinguishing the good or evil
as it is in itself, they are Divine images of the
most supremely Divine sweetness, which, having
the truly sweet within itself, is not turned to the
anomalously seeming of the multitude, moulding
Its genuineness to the true images of Itself.

Section II.
Come, then, since we have viewed the exterior
comeliness of the entirely beautiful ministration, let
z Puto, Rep. i. 6, ii. 116. a Matt, xxiii. 5.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 113

us now look away to its more godly beauty (whilst it-
self, by itself, has uncovered the veils), gazing upon its
blessed radiance, shedding its bright beams openly
around, and filling us with the fragrance unveiled
to the contemplators. For the visible consecration
of the Muron is neither uncommunicated in, or un-
seen by those who surround the Hierarch, but, on
the contrary, by passing through to them, and fixing
the contemplation above the many, is reverently
covered by them, and by Hierarchical direction
kept from the multitude.

For the splendour of things all holy, by shedding
its light clearly and without symbol to men inspired,
as being congenial to the thing contemplated, and
perfuming their contemplating perceptions without
concealment, advances not yet in the same way to
the inferior, but by them as deep contemplators of
the thing contemplated is concealed under the enig-
mas of the wings, without ostentation, so that
it may not be defiled by the dissimilar; through
which sacred enigmas the well-ordered Ranks of
the subordinate are conducted to the degree of
holiness compatible with their powers.

Section III.
The holy consecration, then, which we are now
extolling, is, as I said, of the perfecting rank and
capacity of the Hierarchical functions. Wherefore
our Divine Leaders arranged the same, as being
of the same rank and effect as the holy perfecting
of the Synaxis, with the same figures, for the most
1

U4 Dionysius the Areopagite

part, and with mystical regulations and lections.
And you may see in like manner the Hierarch
bearing forward the sweet perfume from the more
holy place into the sacred precincts beyond, and
teaching, by the return to the same, that the par-
ticipation in things Divine comes to all holy persons,
according to fitness, and is undiminished and alto-
gether unmoved and stands unchangeably in its
identity, as beseems Divine fixity. In the same
way the Psalms and readings of the Oracles nurse
the imperfect to a life-bringing adoption of sons,
and form a religious inclination in those who are
possessed with accursed spirits, and dispel the op-
posing fear and effeminacy from those possessed
by a spirit of unmanliness ; shewing to them,
according to their capacity, the highest pinnacle
of the Godlike habit and power, by aid of which
they will, the rather, scare away the opposing
forces, and will take the lead in healing others;
and, following the example of God, they will,
whilst unmoved from their own proper gifts, not
only be active against those opposing fears, but
will themselves give activity to others ; and they
also impart a religious habit to those who have
changed from the worse to a religious mind, so
that they should not be again enslaved by evil,
and purify completely those who need to become
altogether pure ; and they lead the holy to the Divine
likenesses, and contemplations and communions be-
longing to themselves, and so establish those who
are entirely holy, in blessed and intelligible visions,

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 115

fulfilling their uniform likeness of the One, and
making them one.

Section IV.

What, then, shall I say further ? Is it not those
Ranks already mentioned, which are not entirely
pure, that the present consecrating service ex-
cludes without distinction, in the same way as the
Synaxis, so that it is viewed by the holy alone,
in figures, and is contemplated and ministered, by
the perfectly holy alone, immediately, through hier-
archical directions? Now it is superfluous, as I
think, to run over, by the same statements, these
things already so often mentioned, and not to pass
to the next, viewing the Hierarch, devoutly holding
the Divine Muron veiled under twelve wings, and
ministering the altogether holy consecration upon
it. Let us then affirm that the composition of the
Muron is a composition of sweet-smelling materials,
which has in itself abundantly fragrant qualities,
of which (composition) those who partake become
perfumed in proportion to the degree to which they
partake of its sweet savour. Now we are persuaded
that the most supremely Divine Jesus is superessen-
tially of good savour, filling the contemplative part
of ourselves by bequests of Divine sweetness for
contemplation. For if the reception of the sensible
odours make to feel joyous, and nourishes, with
much sweetness, the sensitive organs of our nostrils,
— if at least they be sound and well apportioned to
the sweet savour — in the same way any one mi^ht

1 1 6 Dionysius the Areopagitc

say that our contemplative faculties, being soundly
disposed as regards the subjection to the worse, in
the strength of the distinguishing faculty implanted
in us by nature, receive the supremely Divine fra-
grance, and are filled with a holy comfort and most
Divine nourishment, in accordance with Divinely
fixed proportions, and the correlative turning of the
mind towards the Divine Being. Wherefore, the
symbolical composition of the Muron, as expressing
in form things that are formless, depicts to us Jesus
Himself, as a well-spring of the wealth of the Divine
sweet receptions b , distributing, in degrees supremely
Divine, for the most Godlike of the contemplators c ,
the most Divine perfumes ; upon which the Minds,
joyfully refreshed, and filled with the holy receptions,
indulge in a feast of spiritual contemplation, by the
entrance of the sweet d bequests into their contem-
plative part, as beseems a Divine participation.

Section V.
Now it is evident, as I think, that the distribution
of the fontal perfume to the Beings above ourselves,
who are more Divine, is, as it were, nearer, and
manifests and distributes itself more to the trans-
parent and wholesome mental condition of their
receptive faculty, overflowing ungrudgingly and en-
tering in many fashions; but as regards the sub-
ordinate contemplators, which are not so receptive,
piously concealing the highest vision and partici-
Cant. i. 3. c T( j„ y 0f pQi, t d 2 Cor. ii. 14.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 117

pation, it is distributed in a supremely Divine
proportion, in fragrance corresponding to the re-
cipients. Amongst the holy Beings, then, who are
above us, the superior order of the Seraphim is
represented under the figure of the twelve wings,
established and fixed around Jesus, casting itself
upon the most blessed contemplations of Him, as
far as permissible, and filled reverently with the
contemplated truth distributed in most pure re-
ceptions, and, to speak after the manner of men,
crying aloud, with never silent lips, the frequent
Hymn of Praise e ; for the sacred knowledge of
the supermundane minds is both untiring, and pos-
sesses the Divine love without intermission, and
is at the same time superior to all baseness and
forgetfulness. Hence, as I think, that phrase,
"unceasing cry," suggests their perpetual and per-
sistent science and conception of things Divine,
with full concord and thanksgiving.

Section VI.
Now we have, as I think, sufficiently contem-
plated, in the description of the super-heavenly
Hierarchy, the incorporeal properties of the Sera-
phim, Divinely described in the Scriptures under
sensible figures explanatory of the contemplated
Beings, and we have made them evident to thy
contemplating eyes. Nevertheless, since now also
they who stand reverently around the Hierarch,

e Isa. vi. 3.

n8 Dionysius the Areopagite

reflect the highest Order, on a small scale, we will
now view with most immaterial visions their most
Godlike splendour.

Section VII.
Their numberless faces then, and many feet,
manifest, as I think, their property of viewing the
most Divine illuminations from many sides, and
their conception of the good things of God as
ever active and abundantly receptive; and the
sixfold arrangement of the wings, of which the
Scripture speaks, does not, I think, denote, as
seems to some, a sacred number, but that of the
highest Essence and Order around God ; the first
and middle and last of its contemplative and God-
like powers are altogether elevating, free, and su-
ermundane. Hence the most holy wisdom of the
Oracles, when reverently describing the formation
of the wings, places the wings around their heads f ,
and middle, and feet, suggesting their complete
covering with wings, and their manifold faculty of
leading to the Really Being.

Section VIII.

Now if they cover their faces and their feet, and
fly by their middle wings only, bear this reverently
in mind, that the Order, so far exalted above the
highest beings, is circumspect respecting the more
lofty and deep of its conceptions, and raises itself,

* Isa. vi. 2.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 119

in due proportion, by its middle wings, to the vision
of God, by placing its own proper life under the
Divine yokes, and by these is reverently directed to
the judgment of itself.

Section IX.

And, as regards the statement of Holy Scripture,
that " one cried out to the other," that shews, I
think, that they impart to each other ungrudgingly
their own visions of God. And this we should deem
worthy of religious recollection, that the Hebrew
word in the Holy Scriptures names the most holy
Beings of the Seraphim by an explanatory epithet,
from their glowing and seething in a Divine and
ever -moving life.

Section X.

Since, then, as those who understand Hebrew say,
the most Divine Seraphim were named by the Word
of God, "Kindling" and "Heating," by a name
expressive of their essential condition, they possess,
according to the symbolical imagery of the Divine
Muron, most elevating powers, which call it to
manifestation and distribution of most exhilarating
perfumes. For the Being, sweet beyond conception,
loves to be moved by the glowing and most pure
minds into manifestation, and imparts Its most
Divine inspirations, in cheerful distributions, to
those who thus supermundanely call It forth. Thus
the most Divine Order of supercelestial Beings did

120 Dionysius the Areopagite

not fail to recognize * the most supremely Divine
Jesus, when He descended for the purpose of being
sanctified ; but recognizes, reverently, Him lowering
Himself in our belongings, through Divine and in-
expressible goodness ; and when viewing Him sancti-
fied, in a manner befitting man, by the Father h and
Himself 1 and the Holy Spirit k , recognized its own
supreme Head as being essentially unchanged, in
whatever He may do as supreme 1 God. Hence the
tradition of the sacred symbols places the Seraphim
near the Divine Muron, when it is being consecrated,
recognizing and describing the Christ as unchanged,
in our complete™ manhood in very truth. And what
is still more divine is, that it uses the Divine Muron
for the consecration of every thing sacred, distinctly
shewing, according to the Logion, the Sanctified
Sanctifying, as always being the same with Himself
throughout the whole supremely Divine sanctification.
Wherefore also the consecrating gift and grace of
the Divine Birth in God is completed in the most
Divine perfectings of the Muron. Whence, as I
think, the Hierarch pouring the Muron upon the
purifying font in cruciform injections, brings to view,
for contemplative eyes, the Lord Jesus descending
even to death itself through the cross n , for our Birth
in God, benevolently drawing up, from the old gulp-
ing of the destructive death, by the same Divine
and resistless descent, those, who, according to the

8 I Tim. iii. 16. h John x. 36. I Ibid. xvii. 19.

k Rom. i. 4. 1 eeapxiKas. m i vav e pU) Tfhoei.

» Phil. ii. 8.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 121

mysterious saying, " are baptized into His death °,"
and renewing them to a godly and eternal existence p .

Section XI.

But further, the perfecting unction of the Muron
gives to him who has been initiated in the most
sacred initiation of the Birth in God, the abiding
of the supremely Divine Spirit ; the sacred imagery
of the symbols, portraying, as I think, the most
Divine Spirit abundantly supplied by Him, Who, for
our sakes, has been sanctified as man by the su-
premely Divine Spirit, in an unaltered condition of
His essential Godhead.

Section XII.

And bear this also hierarchically in mind, that the
Law of the most pure initiation completes the sacred
consecration of the Divine Altar, by the all pure
effusions of the most holy Muron. And the super-
celestial and superessential contemplation is source
and essence, and perfecting power, of all our deifying
holiness. For if our most Divine Altar is Jesus—
the supremely Divine sanctifying of the Godly Minds
— in Whom, according to the Logion, " being sancti-
fied and mystically offered as a whole burnt-offering,
we have the access V let us gaze with supermundane
eyes upon the most Divine Altar itself (in which things
being perfected, are perfected and sanctified), being
perfected from the most Divine Muron itself; for

Rom. vi. 3. P Ibid. 4. * Eph. iii. 12.

122 Dionysius the Areopagite

the altogether most holy Jesus sanctifies Himself on
our behalf, and fills us full of every sanctification,
since the things consecrated 1- upon them pass fra-
ternally afterwards in their beneficent effects to us,
as children of God. Hence, as I think, the Divine
Leaders of our Hierarchy, in conformity with a Hier-
archical conception divinely transmitted, name this
altogether august ministration "consecration of
Muron," from "being consecrated thoroughly," as
one might say, " consecration of God s ," extolling its
divine consecrating work in each sense. For both
the being sanctified for our sakes, as becomes Man,
and the consecrating all things as supreme God, and
the sanctifying things being consecrated, is "con-
secration of Him." As for the sacred song of the
inspiration of the God-rapt Prophets, it is called by
those who know Hebrew, the " Praise of God," or
" Praise ye the Lord," for since every divine mani-
festation and work of God is reverently portrayed in
the varied composition of the Hierarchical symbols,
it is not unfitting to mention the Divinely moved
song of the Prophets ; for it teaches at once, dis-
tinctly and reverently, that the beneficent works of
the Divine Goodness are worthy of devout praise.

r Observe the doctrine of the Atonement, hr" avrSiv, Jesus
and the Altar, eV avry is also another reading.
8 re\(Tr)u ©eov.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 123

CAPUT V.
/. Concerning sacerdotal Consecrations.
Section I.
Such, then, is the most Divine perfecting work of
the Muron. But it may be opportune, after these
Divine ministrations, to set forth the sacerdotal
Orders and elections themselves, and their powers,
and operations, and consecrations, and the triad of
the superior ranks under them ; in order that the
arrangement of our Hierarchy may be demonstrated,
as entirely rejecting and excluding the disordered,
the unregulated, and the confused; and, at the same
time, choosing and manifesting the regulated and
ordered, and well-established, in the gradations of
the sacred Ranks within it. Now we have well shewn,
as I think, in the Hierarchies already extolled by us,
the threefold division of every Hierarchy, when we
affirmed that our sacred tradition holds, that every
Hierarchical transaction is divided into * the most
Divine Mystic Rites, and u the inspired experts and.
teachers of them, and those who are being religiously
initiated x by them.

Section II.

Thus the most holy Hierarchy of the supercelestial

Beings has, for its initiation, its own possible and

most°immaterial conception of God and things Divine,

and the complete likeness to God, and a persistent

t T€ A C Tas. u h'Qiovs iwivrlipovas. x rt\ovfi4vovs^

I2 4 Dionysius the Areopagite

habit of imitating God, as far as permissible. And
its illuminators, and leaders to this sacred conse-
cration, are the very first Beings around God. For
these generously and proportionately transmit to the
subordinate sacred Ranks the ever deifying notions
given to them, by the self-perfect Godhead and the
wise-making Divine Minds. Now the Ranks, who are
subordinate to the first Beings, are, and are truly
called, the initiated Orders, as being religiously con-
ducted, through those, to the deifying illumination of
the Godhead. And after this,-the heavenly and
supermundane Hierarchy,— the Godhead gave the
Hierarchy under the Law, imparting its most holy
gifts, for the benefit of our race, to them (as being
children according to the Logion *), by faint images of
the true, and copies -far from the Archetypes, and
enigmas hard to understand % and types having the
contemplation enveloped within, as an analogous light
not easily discerned b , so as not to wound weak eyes
by the light shed upon them. Now to this Hierarchy
under the Law, the elevation to spiritual worship • is
an initiation. Now the men religiously instructed for
that holy tabernacle d by Moses,— the first initiated
and leader of the . Hierarchs under the Law,— were
conductors; in reference to which holy tabernacle-
when describing for purposes of instruction the Hier-
archy under the Law,— he called all the sacred
services of the Law an image of the type shewn

7 Gal. iv. 3. z Heb. x. 1. a Num> xii< 8>

Rom. 11. 20. c j ohn ft 23> d Heb> . x _

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 125

to him in Mount Sinai e . But " initiated " are those
who are being conducted to a more perfect revelation
of the symbols of the Law, in proportion to their
capacity. Now the Word of God calls our Hierarchy
the more perfect revelation, naming it a fulfilment 1
of that, and a holy inheritance. It is both heavenly
and legal, like the mean between extremes, common
to the one, by intellectual contemplations, and to the
other, because it is variegated by sensible signs; and,
through these, reverently conducts to the Divine
Being. And it has likewise a threefold division
of the Hierarchy, which is divided into the most
holy ministrations of the Mystic Rites, and into the
Godlike ministers of holy things, and those who are
being conducted by them, according to their capacity,
to things holy.

And each of the three divisions of our Hierarchy,
comformably to that of the Law, and the Hierarchy,
more divine than ours, is arranged as first and middle
and last in power; consulting both reverent pro-
portion, and well-ordered and concordant fellowship
of all things ia harmonious rank.

Section III.
The most holy ministration, then, of the Mystic
Rites has, as first Godlike power, the holy cleansing
of the uninitiated ; and as middle, the enlightening
instruction of the purified ; and as last, and summary
of the former, the perfecting of those instructed in

e Exod. xxv. 40. f Matt. v. 17.

126 Dionysius the Areopagite

science of their proper instructions ; and the order of
the Ministers, in the first power, cleanses the un-
initiated through the Mystic Rites ; and in the
second, conducts to light the purified ; and in the
last and highest of the Ministering Powers, makes
perfect those who have participated in the Divine
light, by the scientific completions of the illuminations
contemplated. And of the Initiated, the first power
is that being purified; and the middle is that being
enlightened, after the cleansing, and which contem-
plates certain holy things; and the last and more
divine than the others, is that enlightened in the
perfecting science of the holy enlightenment of which
it has become a contemplator. Let, then, the three-
fold power of the holy service of the Mystic Rites
be extolled, since the Birth in God is exhibited in
the Oracles as a purification and enlightening illumin-
ation, and the Rite of the Synaxis and the Muron,
as a perfecting knowledge and science of the works
of God, through which the unifying elevation to the
Godhead and most blessed communion is reverently
perfected. And now let us explain next the sacer-
dotal Order, which is divided into a purifying and
illuminating and perfecting discipline.

Section IV.
This, then, is the all-sacred Law of the Godhead,
that, through the first, the second are conducted to
Its most Divine splendour. Do we not see the
material substances of the elements, first approach-
ing, by preference, things which are more congenial

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy.

127

to them, and, through these, diffusing their own
energy to other things? Naturally, then, the Head
and foundation of all good order, invisible and
visible, causes the deifying rays to approach the more
Godlike first, and through them, as being more trans-
parent Minds, and more properly adapted for re-
ception and transmission of Light, transmits light and
manifestations to the subordinate, in proportions
suitable to them.

It is, then, the function of these, the first contem-
plators of God, to exhibit ungrudgingly to those
second, in proportion to their capacity, the Divine
visions reverently gazed upon by themselves, and to
reveal the things relating to the Hierarchy (since
they have been abundantly instructed with a perfect-
ing science in all matters relating to their own Hier-
archy, and have received the effectual power of
instruction), and to impart sacred gifts according
to fitness, since they scientifically and wholly par-
ticipate in sacerdotal perfection.

Section V.
The Divine Rank of the Hierarchy then, is the
first of the God-contemplative Ranks; and it is, at
the same time, highest and lowest; inasmuch as
every Order of our Hierarchy is summed up and
fulfilled in it. For, as we see every Hierarchy
terminated in the Lord Jesus, so we see each
terminated in its own inspired Hierarch. Now the
power of the Hierarchical Rank permeates the whole

128 Diojiysins the Areopagite

sacred body, and through every one of the sacred
Ranks performs the mysteries of its proper Hier-
archy. But, pre-eminently, to it, rather than to the
other Ranks, the Divine institution assigned the
more Divine ministrations. For these are the per-
fecting images of the supremely Divine Power
completing all the most Divine symbols and all
the sacred orderings. For though some of the
worshipful symbols are consecrated by the Priests
yet never will the Priest effect the holy Birth in
God without the most Divine Muron ; nor will he
consecrate the mysteries of the Divine Communion,
unless the communicating symbols have been placed
upon the most Divine Altar; and neither will he be
Priest himself, unless he has been elected to this by
the Hierarchical consecrations. Hence the Divine
Institution uniquely assigned the dedication of the
Hierarchical Ranks, and the consecration of the
Divine Muron and the sacred completion of the
Altar, to the perfecting powers of the inspired
Hierarchs.

Section VI.
It is, then, the Hierarchical Rank which, full of
the perfecting power, pre-eminently completes the
perfecting functions of the Hierarchy, and reveals
lucidly the sciences of the holy mysteries, and
teaches their proportionate and sacred conditions
and powers. But the illuminating Rank of the
Priests conducts those, who are being initiated
under the Rank of the inspired Hierarchs, to the

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 129

Divine visions of the Mystic Rites, and in co-opera-
tion with it, ministers its proper ministrations.
Whatever then this Rank may do, by shewing
the works of God, through the most holy symbols,
and perfecting those who draw nigh in the Divine
contemplations, and communion of the holy rites,
it yet refers those, who crave the science of the
religious services contemplated, to the Hierarch.
And the Rank of the Leitourgoi (which is puri-
fying and separates the unfit, previous to the
approach to the ministrations of the Priests),
thoroughly purifies those who are drawing nigh,
by making them entirely pure from opposing pas-
sions, and suitable for the sanctifying vision and
communion. Hence, during the service of the
Birth in God, the Leitourgoi strip him who draws
nigh of his old clothing, yea further, even take
off his sandals, and make him stand towards the
west for renunciation; and again, they lead him
back to the east (for they are of the purifying
rank and power), enjoining on those who approach
to entirely cast away the surroundings of their
former life, and shewing the darkness of their
former conduct, and teaching those, who have
said farewell to the lightless, to transfer their al-
legiance to the luminous. The Leitourgical Order,
then, is purifying, by leading those who have been
purified to the bright ministrations of the Priests,
both by thoroughly purifying the uninitiated and by
bringing to birth, by the purifying illuminations and
teachings of the Oracles, and further, by sending

K

13° Dionysius the Areopagite

away from the Priests the unholy, without respect
of persons. Wherefore also the Hierarchical insti-
tution places it at the holy gates, suggesting that the
approach of those who draw nigh to holy things
should be in altogether complete purification, and
entrusting the approach to their reverent vision and
communion to the purifying powers, and admitting
them, through these, without spot.

Section VII.
We have shewn, then, that the Rank of the Hier-
archs is consecrating and perfecting, that of the
Priests, illuminating and conducting to the light;
and that of the Leitourgoi purifying and discrimi-
nating; that is to say, the Hierarchical Rank is
appointed not only to perfect, but also at the same
time, to enlighten and to purify, and has within itself
the purifying sciences of the power of the Priests to-
gether with the illuminating. For the inferior Ranks
cannot cross to the superior functions, and, besides
this, it is not permitted to them to take in hand
such quackery as that. Now the more Divine Orders
know also, together with their own, the sacred sciences
subordinate to their own perfection. Nevertheless,
since the sacerdotal orderings of the well-arranged
and unconfused order of the Divine operations are
images of Divine operations, they were arranged in
Hierarchical distinctions, shewing in themselves the
illuminations marshalled into the first, and middle,
and last, sacred operations and Ranks ; manifesting,
as I said, in themselves the well-ordered and uncon-

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 131

fused character of the Divine operations. For since
the Godhead first cleanses the minds which He may
enter, then enlightens, and, when enlightened, per-
fects them to a Godlike perfection ; naturally the
Hierarchical of the Divine images divides itself into
well-defined Ranks and powers, shewing clearly the
supremely. Divine operation firmly established, with-
out confusion, in most hallowed and unmixed Ranks.
But, since we have spoken, as attainable to us, of the
sacerdotal Ranks and elections, and their powers and
operations, let us now contemplate their most holy
consecrations as well as we can.

//. Mysterion of Sacerdotal Consecrations.

The Hierarch, then, being led to the Hierarchical
consecration, after he has bent both his s knees
before the Altar, has upon his head h the God-
transmitted oracles, and the Hierarchical hand,
and in this manner is consecrated 1 by the Hier-
arch, who ordains him by the altogether most holy
invocations. And the Priest, after he has bent both
his knees before the Divine Altar, has the Hier-
archical right hand upon his head, and in this
manner is dedicated 151 by the Hierarch, who ordains
him with hallowing invocations. And the Leitourgos,
after he has bent one of two knees before the Divine
Altar, has upon his head the right hand of the Hier-
arch who ordains him, being completed 1 by him

8 &n^)w T<i> 7ro'Se. h Ap. C. iv, s. 20 ; iv. s. IJ ; viii. s. 4.
1 o7roT€A€toi/TOt. k ay i&feai. l T<-\eiov/j.ivos.

l 3* Dlonysius the Areopagile

with the initiating invocations of the Leitourgoi.
Upon each of them the cruciform seal m is impressed,
by the ordaining Hierarch, and, in each case,'
a sacred proclamation of name takes place, and
a perfecting salutation, since every sacerdotal person
present, and the Hierarch who ordained, salute him
who has been enrolled to any of the aforenamed
sacerdotal Ranks.

III. Contemplation.
Section I.

These things, then, are common both to the Hier-
archs, and Priests, and Leitourgoi, in their sacerdotal
consecrations,— the conducting to the Divine Altar
and kneeling,— the imposition of the Hierarchical
hand,— the cruciform seal,— the announcement of
name,— the completing salutation.

And special and select for the Hierarchs is the
imposition of the Oracles upon the head, since the
subordinate Ranks have not this; and for the Priests
the bending of both knees, since the consecration of
the Leitourgoi has not this ; for the Leitourgoi, as
has been said, bend the one of two knees only.

Section II.

The conducting then to the Divine Altar, and

kneeling, suggests to all those who are being sacer-

dotally ordained, that their own life is entirely placed

under God, as source of consecration, and that their

m a<ppayls.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 133

whole intellectual self, all pure and hallowed, ap-
proaches to Him, and that it is of one likeness, and,
as far as possible, meet for the supremely Divine
and altogether most holy, both Victim" and Altar,
which purifies, sacerdotally, the Godlike Minds.

Section III.

And the imposition of the Hierarchical hand
signifies at once the consecrating protection, by
which, as holy children, they are paternally tended,
which bequeaths to them a sacerdotal condition and
power, and drives away their adverse powers, and
teaches, at the same time also, to perform the sacer-
dotal operations, as those who, having been conse-
crated, are acting under God, and have Him as
Leader of their own operations in every respect.

Section IV.
And the cruciform seal manifests the inaction of
all the impulses of the flesh, and the God-imitated
life looking away unflinchingly to the manly most
Divine life of Jesus, Who came even to Cross and
death with a supremely Divine sinlessness, and
stamped those who so live with the cruciform image
of His own sinlessness as of the same likeness.

Section V.

And the Hierarch calls aloud the name of the
consecrations and of those consecrated, the mystery
denoting that the God-beloved consecrator is mani-
n Christ.

*34 Dionysius the Areopagite

festor of the supremely Divine choice,— not of his
own accord or by his own favour leading those who
are ordained to the sacerdotal consecration, but
being moved by God to all the Hierarchical dedi-
cations. Thus Moses, the consecrator under the
Law, does not lead even Aaron, his brother, to
sacerdotal consecration, though thinking him both
beloved of God and fit for the priesthood, until
moved by God to this, he in submission to God,
Head of consecration, completed by Hierarchical
rites the sacerdotal consecration . But even our
supremely Divine and first Consecrator (for the most
philanthropic Jesus, for our sake, became even this),
did "not glorify Himself," as the Logia say, but He
Who said to Him, "Thou* art Priest for ever after
the order of Melchizedek." Wherefore also whilst
Himself leading the disciples to sacerdotal conse-
cration, although being as God chief Consecrator,
nevertheless He refers the Hierarchical completion
of the work of consecration to His altogether most
Holy Father, and the supremely Divine Spirit, by
admonishing the disciples, as the Oracles say, not
to depart from Jerusalem, but to " await the promise
of the Father, which ye heard of Me, that ye shall
be baptized in Holy Ghost V And indeed, the
Coryphaeus of the disciples himself, with the ten,
of the same rank and Hierarchy with himself, when
he proceeded to the sacerdotal consecration of the
twelfth of the disciples, piously left the selection to

° Exod. xxix. 4. P Ps. ex. 4. q Acts i. 4, 5.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 135

the Godhead, saying, "Shew 1- whom Thou hast
chosen," and received him, who was divinely desig-
nated by the Divine lot, into the Hierarchical
number of the sacred twelve. Now concerning
the Divine lot, which fell as a Divine intimation
upon Matthias, others have expressed another view,
not clearly, as I think, but I will express my own
sentiment. For it seems to me that the Oracles
name " lot " a certain supremely Divine gift, pointing
out to that Hierarchical Choir him who was desig-
nated by the Divine election ; more particularly,
because the Divine Hierarch must not perform the
sacerdotal acts of his own motion, but, under God,
moving him to do them as prescribed by the Hier-
archy and Heaven.

Section VI.
Now the salutation, for the completion of the
sacerdotal consecration, has a religious significance.
For all the members of the sacerdotal Ranks present,
as well as the Hierarch himself who has consecrated
them, salute the ordained. For when, by sacerdotal
habits and powers, and by Divine call and dedica-
tion, a religious mind has attained to sacerdotal
completion, he is dearly loved by the most holy
Orders of the same rank, being conducted to a
most Godlike comeliness, loving the minds similar
to himself, and religiously loved by them in return.
Hence it is that the mutual sacerdotal salutation
is religiously performed, proclaiming the religious

r Acts i. 24. Ap. C. p. 168.

I3 6 Dionysius the AreopagiU

communion of minds of like character, and their
loveable benignity towards each other, as keeping
throughout, by sacerdotal training, their most God-
like comeliness.

Section VII
These things, as I said, are common to the whole
sacerdotal consecration. The Hierarch, however,
as a distinctive mark, has the Oracles most reverently
placed upon his head. For since the perfecting
power and science of the whole Priesthood is be-
queathed to the inspired Hierarchs, by the supremely
Divine and perfecting goodness, naturally are placed
upon the heads of the Hierarchs the Divinely trans-
mitted Oracles, which set forth comprehensively
and scientifically every teaching of God", work
of God, manifestation of God, sacred word, sacred
work, in one word, all the Divine and sacred works
and words bequeathed to our Hierarchy by the
beneficent Godhead; since the Godlike Hierarch,
having participated entirely in the whole Hierar-
chical power, will not only be illuminated, in the
true and God-transmitted science of all the sacred
words and works committed to the Hierarchy, but
will also transmit them to others in Hierarchical
proportions, and will perfect Hierarchically in most
Divine kinds of knowledge and the highest mystical
instructions, all the most perfecting functions of the
whole Hierarchy. And the distinctive feature of the
ordination of Priests, as contrasted with the ordering

8 -ndaris Qeo^yias.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 137

of the Leitourgoi, is the bending of the two knees,
as that bends only the one, and is ordained in this
Hierarchical fashion.

Section VIII.
The bending then denotes the subordinate intro-
duction of the conductor, who places under God that
which is reverently introduced. And since, as we
have often said, the three Orders of the consecrators,
through the three most holy Mystic Rites and powers,
preside over the three ranks of those initiated, and
minister their saving introduction under the Divine
yokes, naturally the order of Leitourgoi as only puri-
fying, ministers the one introduction of those who
are being purified, by placing it under the Divine
Altar, since in it the minds being purified, are
supermundanely hallowed. And the Priests bend
both their knees, since those who are religiously
brought nigh by them have not only been purified,
but have been ministerially perfected into a contem-
plative habit and power of a life thoroughly cleansed
by their most luminous ministrations through instruc-
tion. And the Hierarch, bending both his knees,
has upon his head the God-transmitted Oracles,
leading, through his office of Hierarch, those who
have been purified by the Leitourgic power, and
enlightened by the ministerial, to the science of
the holy things contemplated by them in proportion
to their capacities, and through this science perfect-
ing those who are brought nigh, into the most com-
plete holiness of which they are capable.

x 3 8 Dionysius the Areopagite

CAPUT VI.
/. Concerning the Ranks of the Initiated.
Section I.
These, then, are the sacerdotal Ranks and elections
their powers, and operations, and consecrations'
We must next explain the triad of the Ranks being
initiated under them. We affirm then that the mul-
titudes, of whom we have already made mention, who
are dismissed from the ministrations and consecra-
tions, are Ranks under purification; since one is
being yet moulded and fashioned by the Leitourgoi
through the obstetric Oracles to a living birth; and
another is yet to be called back to the holy life, from
which it had departed, by the hortatory teaching of
the good Oracles; and another, as being yet terror-
ized, through want of manliness, by opposing fears,
and being fortified by the strengthening Oracles ; and
another, as being yet led back from the worse
to holy efforts; and another as having been led
back, indeed, but not yet having a chaste fixedness
in more Godlike and tranquil habits. For these are
the Orders under purification, by the nursing and
purifying power of the Leitourgoi. These, the Lei-
tourgoi perfect, by their sacred powers, for the
purpose of their being brought, after their complete
cleansing, to the enlightening contemplation and
participation in the most luminous ministrations.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 139

Section II.

And a middle rank is the contemplative, which
participates in certain Divine Offices in all purity,
according to its capacity, which is assigned to the
Priests for its enlightenment.

For it is evident, in my opinion, that, that having
been cleansed from all unholy impurity, and having
acquired the pure and unmoved steadfastness of
its own mind, is led back, ministerially, to the
contemplative habit and power, and communicates
the most Divine symbols, according to its capability,
filled with every holy joy in their contemplations
and communions, mounting gradually to the Divine
love of their science, through their elevating powers.
This, I affirm, is the rank of the holy people, as
having passed through complete purification, and
deemed worthy, as far as is lawful, both of the
reverent vision, and participation of the most lumi-
nous Mystic Rites.

Section III.
Now the rank, higher than all the initiated, is
the sacred Order of the Monks, which, by reason
of an entirely purified purification, through complete
power and perfect chastity of its own operations,
has attained to intellectual contemplation and com-
munion in every ministration which it is lawful for it
to contemplate, and is conducted by the most perfect-
ing powers of the Hierarchs, and taught by their
inspired illuminations and hierarchical traditions the
ministrations of the Mystic Rites, contemplated, ac-

T 4° Dionysius the Arcopagite

cording to its capacity, and elevated by their sacred
science, to the most perfecting perfection of which
it is capable. Hence our Divine leaders have deemed
them worthy of sacred appellations, some, indeed,
calling them " Therapeutae," and others " Monks,"
from the pure service and fervid devotion to the true
God, and from the undivided and single life, as it
were unifying them, in the sacred enfoldings of
things divided, into a God-like Monad, and God-
loving perfection. Wherefore the Divine institution
accorded them a consecrating grace, and deemed
them worthy of a certain hallowing invocation— not
hierarchical— for that is confined to the sacerdotal
orders alone, but ministrative, as being ministered,
by the pious Priests, by the hierarchial consecration
in the second degree.

II. Mysterion on Monastic Consecration.

The Priest then stands before the Divine Altar,
religiously pronouncing the invocation for Monks.
The ordinand stands behind the Priest, neither bend-
ing both knees, nor one of them, nor having upon
his head the Divinely-transmitted Oracles, but only
standing near the Priest, who pronounces over him
the mystical invocation. When the Priest has fin-
ished this, he approaches the ordinand, and asks him
first, if he bids farewell to all the distracted— not
lives only, but also imaginations. Then he sets
before him the most perfect life, testifying that it is
his bounden duty to surpass the ordinary life. When

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 14*

the ordinand has promised steadfastly all these things,
the Priest, after he has sealed him with the sign of
the Cross, crops his hair, after an invocation to the
threefold Subsistence of the Divine Beatitude, and
when he has stripped off all his clothing, he covers
him with different, and when, with all the holy men
present, he has saluted him, he finishes by making
him partaker of the supremely Divine Mysteries.

III. Contemplatio7i.

Section I.

The fact that he bends neither knee, nor has upon
his head the Divinely-transmitted Oracles, but stands
by the Priest, who pronounces the invocation, sig-
nifies, that the monastic Rank is not for leading others,
but stands by itself, in a monastic and holy state,
following the sacerdotal Ranks, and readily conducted
by them, as a follower, to the Divine science of
sacred things, according to its capacity.

Section II.

And the renunciation of the divided, not only lives,
but even imaginations, shews the most perfect love of
wisdom in the Monks, which exercises itself in science
of the unifying commandments. For it is, as I said,
not of the middle Rank of the initiated, but of the
higher than all.

Section III.

Therefore many of the things, which are done
without reproach by the middle Rank, are forbidden

M2 Donysius the Areopagile

in every way to the single Monks.-inasmuch as they
are under obligation to be unified to the One and
to be collected to a sacred Monad, and to be trans-
formed to the sacerdotal life, as far as lawful as
possessmg an affinity to it in many things, and as
being nearer to it than the other Ranks of the initi
ated. Now the sealing with the sign of the Cross
as we have already said, denotes the inaction of
almost all the desires of the flesh. And the cropping
of the hair shews the pure and unpretentious life
which does not beautify the darkness within the
mind, by overlaying it with smeared pretence, but
that it by itself is being led, not by human attractions
but by single and monastic, to the highest likeness
of God.

Section IV.
The casting aside of the former clothing, and the
taking a different, is intended to shew the transition
from a middle religious life to the more perfect : just
as durmg the holy Birth from God, the exchange
of the clothing denoted the elevation of a thoroughly
purified life, to a contemplative and enlightened
condition. And even if now also the Priest, and all
the religious present, salute the man ordained, under-
stand from this the holy fellowship of the Godlike
who lovingly congratulate each other in a Divine
rejoicing.

Section V.
Last of all, the Priest calls the ordained to the
supremely Divine Communion, shewing religiously

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 143

that the ordained, if he would really attain to the
monastic and single elevation, will not merely con-
template the sacred mysteries within them, nor come
to the communion of the most holy symbols, after the
fashion of the middle Rank, but, with a Divine know-
ledge of the holy things received by him, will come
to the reception of the supremely Divine Communion,
in a manner different from that of the holy people.
Wherefore, the Communion of the most holy Eu-
charist is also given to the sacerdotal Orders, in
their consecrating dedications, by the Hierarch who
consecrated them, at the end of their most holy
sanctifications, not only because the reception of the
supremely Divine Mysteries is the consummation of
each Hierarchical reception, but because all the
sacred Orders, according to their capacity, partake of
the self-same common and most godly gifts, for their
own elevation and perfection in deification. We
conclude, then, that the holy Mystic Rites are,
purification, and illumination, and consecration. The
Leitourgoi are a purifying rank, the Priests an illu-
minating, and the Godlike Hierarchs a consecrating.
But the holy people is a contemplative Order. That
which does not participate in the sacred contem-
plation and communion, is a Rank being purified, as
still under course of purification. The holy people is
a contemplative Rank, and that of the single Monks
is a perfected Rank. For thus our Hierarchy, rever-
ently arranged in Ranks fixed by God, is like the
Heavenly Hierarchies, preserving, so far as man can
do, its God-imitated and Godlike characteristics.

144 Dionysiui the Areopagite

Section VI.
But thou wilt say that the Ranks undergoing puri-
fication utterly fall short of the Heavenly Hierarchies
(for it is neither permitted nor true to say that any
heavenly Ordering is defiled), yea, I would altogether
affirm myself, that they are entirely without blemish,
and possess a perfect purity above this world, unless
I had completely fallen away from a religious mind.
For if any of them should have become captive to
evil, and have fallen from the heavenly and undefiled
harmony of the divine Minds, he would be brought
to the gloomy fall of the rebellious multitudes. But
one may reverently say with regard to the Heavenly
Hierarchy, that the illuminating from God in things
hitherto unknown is a purification to the subordinate
Beings, leading them to a more perfect science of the
supremely Divine kinds of knowledge, and purifying
them as far as possible from the ignorance of those
things of which they had not hitherto the science,
conducted, as they are, by the first and more Divine
Beings to the higher and more luminous splendours
of the visions of God : and so there are Ranks being
illuminated and perfected, and purifying and illu-
minating and perfecting, after the example of the
Heavenly Hierarchy ; since the highest and more
Divine Beings purify the- subordinate, holy, and
reverent Orders, from all ignorance (in ranks and
proportions of the Heavenly Hierarchies), and filling
them with the most Divine illuminatings, and per-
fecting in the most pure science of the supremely
Divine conceptions. For we have already said, and

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 145

the Oracles divinely demonstrate, that all the hea-
venly Orders are not the same, in all the sacred
sciences of the God-contemplating visions ; but the
first, from God immediately, and, through these,
again from God, the subordinate are illuminated, in
proportion to their powers, with the most luminous
glories of the supremely Divine ray.

CAPUT VII.

I. Concerning things performed over those fallen
asleep.

Section I.

These things having been defined, I think it
necessary also to describe the things religiously per-
formed by us over those who have fallen asleep.
For neither is this also the same between the
holy and the unholy; but, as the form of life of
each is different, so also, when approaching death,
those who have led a religious life, by looking
steadfastly to the unfailing promises of the Godhead
(inasmuch as they have observed their proof, in the
resurrection proclaimed by it), come to the goal of
death, with firm and unfailing hope, in godly rejoic-
ing, knowing that at the end of holy contests their
condition will be altogether in a perfect and endless
life and safety, through their future entire resurrec-
tion *. For the holy souls, which may possibly fall

* Soul first — body afterwards.

146 Dionysius the Areopagite

during this present life to a change for the worse
in the regeneration, will have the most Godlike transi-
tion to an unchangeable « condition. Now, the pure
bodies which are enrolled together as yoke-fellows
and companions of the holy souls, and have fought
together within their Divine struggles in the un-
changed steadfastness of their souls throughout the
divine life, will jointly receive their own resurrec-
tion * ; for, having been united with the holy souls
to which they were united in this present life, by
having become members r of Christ, they will receive
in return the Godlike and imperishable immortality
and blessed repose \ In this respect then the sleep
of the holy is in comfort and unshaken hopes, as
it attains the goal of the Divine contests a .

Section II.
Now, amongst the profane, some b illogically think
to go to a non-existence; others • that the bodily
blending with their proper souls will be severed
once for all, as unsuitable to them in a Divine life
and blessed lots, not considering nor being suffi-
ciently instructed in Divine science, that our most
Godlike life in Christ has already begun <*. But
others e assign to souls union with other bodies
committing ', as I think, this injustice to them, that'
after (bodies) have laboured together with the godly
* 1 John iii. 2. x , Con xv ^ y Ib . d v .

5? JV 1 ' " 2 Tim - iv - 6 ~ 8 ' b PIato ' Ph * d - *• st
'Ibid. 1.62-3. ^ Col. iii. 3, 4 . ep^iJ

1 adiKWVTfs, Ap. C. v. s. 5 — 7.

on the Eccksiatical Hierarchy. 147

souls, and have reached the goal of their most Divine
course, they relentlessly deprive them of their right-
eous retributions. And others* (I do not know how
they have strayed to conceptions of such earthly
tendency) say, that the most holy and blessed repose
promised to the devout is similar to our life in this
world, and unlawfully reject, for those who are equal
to the Angels, nourishments appropriate to another
kind of life. None of the most religious men, how-
ever, will ever fall into such errors as these; but,
knowing that their whole selves will receive the Christ-
like inheritance, when they have come to the goal of
this present life, they see more clearly their road to
incorruption already become nearer, and extol the
gifts of the Godhead, and are filled with a Divine
satisfaction, no longer fearing the fall to a worse con-
dition, but knowing well that they will hold firmly
and everlastingly the good things already acquired.
Those, however, who are full of blemishes, and un-
holy stains, even though they have attained to some
initiation, yet, of their own accord, have, to their own
destruction, rejected this from their mind, and have
rashly followed their destructive lusts, to them when
they have come to the end of their life here, the Divine
regulation of the Oracles will no longer appear as
before, a subject of scorn h , but, when they have
looked with different eyes upon the pleasures of their
passions destroyed, and when they have pronounced

g Matt. xxii. 28.
h Republic, lib. i. p. 9. Cousin, Paris, 1833.

T4 8 Dionysius the Areopagite

blessed the holy life from which they thoughtlessly
fell away, they are, piteously and against their will,
separated from this present life, conducted to no holy
hope, by reason of their shameful life \

Section III.
Now, whilst none of these attain the repose of
the holy men, he himself, when coming to the end
of his own struggles, is filled with a holy consolation,
and with much satisfaction enters the path of the
holy regeneration. The familiar friends, however,
of him who has fallen asleep, as befits their divine
familiarity and fellowship, pronounce him blessed,
whoever he is, as having reached the desired end
crowned with victory, and they send up odes of
thanksgiving to the Author of victory, praying also
that they may reach the same inheritance. Then
they take him and bring him to the Hierarch, as to
a bequest of holy crowns ; and he right gladly receives
him, and performs the things fixed by reverend men,
to be performed over those who have piously fallen
asleep.

II Mysterion over (hose who have religiously
fallen asleep.

The Divine Hierarch collects the reverend Choir,
and if the person who has fallen asleep were of the
sacerdotal rank, he lays him down before the Divine
Altar, and begins with the prayer and thanksgiving

i Ps. cxii. io.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 149

to God ; but if he belonged to the rank of the chaste
Monks, or the holy people, he lays him down near
the hallowed sanctuary, before the sacerdotal en-
trance. Then the Hierarch finishes the prayer of
thanksgiving to God ; and next, the Leitourgoi, after
reading the unfailing promises concerning our holy
resurrection, contained in the Divine Oracles, rever-
ently chant the odes of the same teaching and power,
from the Oracles of the Psalter k . Then the first
Leitourgos dismisses the catechumens, and calls aloud
the names of the holy people, who have already fallen
asleep ; amongst whom he deems the man, who has
just terminated his life, worthy of mention in the
same rank, and urges all to seek the blessed consum-
mation in Christ; then the Divine Hierarch advances,
and offers a most holy prayer over him, and after the
prayer both the Hierarch himself salutes the defunct,
and after him, all who are present. When all have
saluted, the Hierarch pours the oil upon the fallen
asleep, and when he has offered the holy prayer for
all, he places the body in a worthy chamber, with
other holy bodies of the same rank.

III. Contemplation,

Section I.

Now, if the profane should see or hear that these
things are done by us, they will, I suppose, split
with laughter, and commiserate us on our folly. But

k See Burial Office.

!^o Dionysius the Areopagite

there is no need to wonder at this. For, as the
Oracles say, " If they will not believe, neither shall
they understand 1 ." And as for us, who have con-
templated the spiritual meaning of the things done,
whilst Jesus leads us to the light, let us say, that,
not without reason, does the Hierarch conduct to,
and place the man fallen asleep, in the place of the
same rank ; for it shews reverently, that, in the
regeneration, all will be in those chosen inheritances,
for which they have chosen their own life here" 1 .
For example, if any one led a Godlike and most holy
life here, so far as the imitation of God is attainable
by man, he will be, in the age to come, in divine
and blessed inheritances ; but if he led a life inferior
to the divine likeness in the highest degree, but,
nevertheless, a holy life, even this man will receive
the holy and similar retributions. The Hierarch,
having given thanks for this Divine righteousness,
offers a sacred prayer, and extols the worshipful
Godhead, as subjugating the unjust and tyrannical
power against us all, and conducting us back to our
own most just possessions 11 (or judgments).

Section II.

Now, the Chants and Readings of the supremely

Divine promises are explanatory of the most blessed

inheritances, to which those, who have attained a

Divine perfection, shall be eternally appointed, and

l Wisdom iii. 9. m h**K\w*<rav. See Papias, fragment 5.

n Kpiuara in text. I suggest Kriifxara.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. i 5 l

descriptive of him who has religiously fallen asleep,
and stimulative of those, who are still living, to the
same perfection.

Section III.
Observe, however, that not all the ranks
under purification are customarily dismissed, but
only the catechumens are expelled from the holy
places, for this class is entirely uninitiated in every
holy Rite, and is not permitted to view any of the
religious celebrations, great or small, inasmuch as
it has not participated in the faculty of contem-
plating the holy mysteries, through the Birth from
God, which is Source and gift of light. The rest,
however, of the ranks under purification, have already
been under instruction in sacred tradition ; but, as
they have foolishly returned to an evil course it is
incumbent to complete their proper elevation in
advance, and they are reasonably dismissed from
the supremely Divine contemplations and commu-
nions, as in holy symbols; for they will be
injured, by partaking of them unholily, and will
come to a greater contempt of the Divine Mysteries
and themselves.

Section IV.
Naturally, however, they are present at the things
now done, being clearly taught by seeing both the
fearlessness of death amongst us, and the last honour
of the saints extolled from the unfailing Oracles,
and that the sufferings threatened to the unholy

152 Dionysius the Areopagite

like themselves will be endless ; for it will perhaps
be profitable for them to have seen him, who has
religiously finished his course, reverently proclaimed
by the public proclamation of the Leitourgoi, as
being certainly companion of the Saints for ever .
And, perchance, even they will come to the like
aspiration, and will be taught from the science of
the Liturgy, that the consummation in Christ is
blessed indeed.

Section V.

Then the Divine Hierarch, advancing, offers a
holy prayer over the man fallen asleep. After the
prayer, both the Hierarch himself salutes him, and
next all who are present. Now the prayer beseeches
the supremely Divine Goodness to remit to the man
fallen asleep all the failings committed by reason of
human infirmity, and to transfer him in light p and
land of living % into the bosom of Abraham r , and
Isaac, and Jacob : in a place where grief and sorrow
and sighing are no more. It is evident, then, as
I think, that these, the rewards of the pious, are
most blessed. For what can be equal to an im-
mortality entirely without grief and luminous with
light. Especially if all the promises which pass
man's understanding, and which are signified to us
by signs adapted to our capacity, fall short, in their
description, of their actual truth. For we must

o Luke i. 70. P Ps. lvi. 13. °. Ps. cxvi. 9.

r Luke xvi. 22.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. i53

remember that the Logion is true, that " Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into
the heart of man to conceive, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love* Him." " Bosoms "
of the blessed Patriarchs, and of all the other pious
men, are, in my judgment, the most divine and
blessed inheritances, which await all godly men,
in that consummation * which grows not old, and
is full of blessedness.

Sfxtion VI.
But thou mayst, perhaps, say that these things are
correctly affirmed by us, indeed, but want to know for
what reason the Hierarch beseeches the supremely
Divine Goodness, for the remission of the faults
committed by the man fallen asleep, and his most
glorious inheritance, amongst godly men of the same
rank. For, if every one shall receive, by the Divine
justice, equivalents for what he has done in the
present life, whether it be good or different, and the
man fallen asleep has finished his own activities in
this present life, from what prayer offered by the
Hierarch will he be transferred to another inherit-
ance, than that due to and equivalent for his life
here ? Now, well do I know, following the Oracles,
that each one will have the inheritance equivalent ;
for the Lord says, he has closed respecting him,
and each one shall receive the things done in his
body according- to that he hath done, whether it

» i Cor. ii. 9. fc Luke xvi ' 22 ' 3 *

154 Donysius the Areopagite

be good, or whether it be bad u ." Yea, the sure
traditions of the Oracles teach us that the prayers,
even of the just, avail only for those who are worthy
of pious prayers x during this present life, let alone y
(by no means) after death. What forsooth did Saul
gain from Samuel 55 ? and what did the intercession
of the Prophet a profit the people of the Hebrews ?
For, as if any one, when the sun is shedding its
own splendour upon unblemished eyes, seeks to
enjoy the solar splendour by obliterating his own
powers of vision ; so does he cling to impossible
and extravagant expectations, who beseeches the
intercessions of holy men, and, by driving away
the holy efforts natural to the same, plays truant
from the most luminous and beneficent command-
ments, through heedlessness of the Divine gifts.

Nevertheless, according to the Oracles, I affirm
that the intercessions of the pious b are, in every
respect, profitable in this present life, after the fol-
lowing fashion. If any one, longing for holy gifts,
and having a religious disposition for their reception,
as recognizing his own insufficiency, approaches
some pious man, and should prevail upon him to
' become his fellow-helper, and fellow-suppliant, he
will be benefitted in every respect, thereby, with
a benefit superior to all ; for he will attain the most
Divine gifts he prays for, since the supremely Di-
vine Goodness assists him, as well as his pious

■ 2 Cor. v. 10. * C si. s. 13. 4. 37- y rf Tl ? 6

juera Qavarov*
b James v. 16.

* 1 Sam. xvi. I. a Jer. vii. 16.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 155

judgment of himself, and his reverence for devout
men, and his praiseworthy craving for the religious
requests requested, and his brotherly and Godlike
disposition. For this has been firmly fixed by the
supremely Divine decrees, that the Divine gifts are
given, in an order most befitting God, to those who
are meet to receive them, through those who are
meet to distribute them.

If any one, then, should despise this sacred regu-
lation, and betaking himself to a wretched self-con-
ceit, should deem himself sufficient for the supremely
Divine Converse, and look down upon pious men,
and if he should further request requests, unworthy
of God, and not holy, and if he should have his
aspiration for things divine not sustained, and cor-
relative to himself, he will fail in his ignorant request,
through his own fault. Now, with reference to the
prayer mentioned, which the Hierarch prays over the
man fallen asleep, we think it necessary to mention
the tradition which has come to us from our inspired
leaders. The Divine Hierarch, as the Oracles say,
is interpreter of the supremely Divine awards ; for he
is messenger c of the Lord God Omnipotent. He has
learned then, from the God-transmitted Oracles, that
to those who have passed their life piously, the most
bright and divine d life is given in return, according
to their due e , by the most just balances, the Divine
Love towards man overlooking, through its goodness,
the stains which have come to them through human

c Malachi ii. 7. d I John v. 16. e /cot* a^iow.

J 5° Dionysius the Areopagite

infirmity, since no one, as the Oracles say, is pure
from blemish f . '

Section VII.
Now, the Hierarch knew these things to have been
promised by the infallible Oracles; and he asks, that
these thmgs may come to pass, and that the right-
teous returns be given to those who have lived
piously, whilst being moulded beneficently to the
Divine imitation, he beseeches gifts for others as
favours to himself; and, whilst knowing that the
promises will be unfailing, he makes known clearly
to those present, that the things asked by him, ac-
cording to a holy law, will be entirely realized for
those who have been perfected in a Divine life For
the Hierarch, the expounder of the supremely Divine
Justice, would never seek things, which were not
most pleasing to the Almighty God, and divinely
promised to be given by Him «. Wherefore, he does
not offer these prayers over the unholy fallen asleep
not only because in this he would deviate from his'
office of expounder, and would presumptuously arro-
gate, on his own authority, a function of the Hier-
archy, without being moved by the Supreme Legis-
lator, but because he would both fail to obtain his
abommable prayer, and he, not unnaturally, would
hear from the just Oracle, " Ye ask, and receive not
because ye ask amiss".." Therefore, the Divine
Hierarch beseeches things divinely promised, and

'Jobxiv.4. SAp.Cviii.43. " James iv. 3.

071 the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 157

dear to God, and which will, in every respect, be
given, demonstrating both his own likeness to the
good loving God, and declaring explicitly the gifts
which will be received by the devout. Thus, the
Hierarchs have discriminating powers, as interpreters
of the Divine Awards, not as though the All-Wise
Deity, to put it mildly, were slavishly following their
irrational impulses, but, as though they, as expounders
of God, were separating, by the motion of the Divine
Spirit, those who have already been judged by God,
according to due. For "receive," he says, "the Holy
Spirit, whose l faults ye may have remitted, they are
remitted ; whose ye may have retained, they are re-
tained." And to him who was illuminated with the
Divine revelations of the most Holy Father, the
Oracles say, " Whatsoever thou shalt have bound
upon the earth, shall be bound in the heavens ; and
whatsoever thou shalt have loosed on earth, shall be
loosed in the heavens k ," inasmuch as he, and every
Hierarch like him, according to the revelations of
the Father's awards through him, receives those dear
to God, and rejects those without God, as announc-
ing and interpreting the Divine Will. Further, as
the Oracles affirm, he uttered that sacred and divine
confession, not as self-moved 1 , nor as though flesh
and blood had revealed it, but moved by God Who
revealed to him the spiritual meaning of Divine
things. The inspired Hierarchs then must so exer-
cise their separations and all their Hierarchical

1 John xx. 22, 23. k Matt. xvi. 19. 1 Ibid. 17.

1 5^ Dionysius the Areopagite

powers as the Godhead, the Supreme Initiator, may
move them; and the others must so cling to the
H.erarchs as moved by God, in what they may
do h,erarchically, "For he who despiseth you," He
says, "despiseth Me"."

Section VIII.
Let us now proceed to that, which follows the
prayer mentioned. When the Hierarch has finished
it, .he first salutes the fallen asleep, and next, all
who are present ; for dear and honoured by all God-
hke men is he who has been perfected in a Divine
life. After the salutation, the Hierarch pours the
oil upon the man fallen asleep. And remember,
that during the sacred Birth from God, before the
most D.vine Baptism, a first participation of a holy
symbol is given to the man initiated-the oil of
Chrism-after the entire removal of the former
clothing; and now, at the conclusion of all the
Oil is poured upon the man fallen asleep Then
indeed the anointing with the Oil summoned the
initiated to the holy contests; and now the Oil
poured upon him shews the fallen asleep to have
struggled, and to have been made perfect, through-
out those same contests.

Section IX.
When the Hierarch has finished these things, he
places the body in an honourable chamber, with

" Luke x. 16.

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 1 5 9

other holy bodies of the same rank. For if, in soul
and body, the man fallen asleep passed a life dear
to God, there will be honoured, with the devout
soul, the body also, which contended with it through-
out the devout struggles. Hence the Divine justice
gives to it, together with its own body, the retri-
butive inheritances, as companion and participator
in the devout, or the contrary, life. Wherefore, the
Divine institution of sacred rites bequeaths the
supremely Divine participations to them both— to
the soul, indeed, in pure contemplation and in
science of the things being done, and to the body,
by sanctifying the whole man, as in a figure with
the most Divine Muron, and the most holy symbols
of the supremely Divine Communion, sanctifying
the whole man, and announcing, by purifications of
the whole man, that his resurrection will be most
complete.

Section X.
Now, as regards the consecrating invocations, it
is not permitted to explain them in writing, nor may
we bring their mysterious meaning, or the powers
from God working in them, from secrecy to pub-
licity; but, as our sacred tradition holds, by learning
these, through quiet instructions, and being perfected
to a more Godlike condition and elevation, through
Divine love and religious exercises, thou wilt be
borne by the consecrating enlightenment to their
• highest science.

l6 ° Dionysius the Areopagite

Section XI.
Now the fact that even children, not vet able
to understand the things Divine, become recipients
of the holy Birth in God, and of the most holy
symbols of the supremely Divine Communion, seems
as you say, to the profane, a fit subject for reason-
able laughter, if the Hierarchs teach things Divine
to those not able to hear, and vainly transmit the
sacred traditions to those who do not understand
And this is still more laughable-that others, on
their behalf, repeat the abjurations and the sacred
compacts. But thy Hierarchical judgment must not
be too hard upon those who are led astray, but
persuasively, and for the purpose of leading them
to the light, reply affectionately to the objections
alleged by them, bringing forward this fact, in
accordance with sacred rule, that not all things
Divine are comprehended in our knowledge, but
many of the things, unknown by us, have causes
beseeming God, unknown to us indeed, but well
known to the Ranks above us. Many things also
escape even the most exalted Beings, and are known
distinctly by the All-Wise and Wise-making God-
head alone. Further, also, concerning this, we affirm
the same things which our Godlike initiators con-
veyed to us, after initiations from the early " tra-
dition. For they say, what is also a fact, that

* &PX«las. See Acts xv. 7, 21, 16 ; and Archbishop Trench
let even Dupin ignorantly alleged that word as proof Post-
Apostolic. Nov. Bib. p. 100 ; C. ii. 41

on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. 1 6 1

infants, being brought up according to a Divine
institution, will attain a religious disposition, exempt
from every error, and inexperienced in an unholy
life. When our Divine leaders came to this con-
clusion, it was determined to admit infants upon
the following conditions, viz. : that the natural
parents of the child presented, should transfer
the child to some one of the initiated,— a good
teacher of children in Divine things,— and that
the child should lead the rest of his life under
him, as under a godfather and sponsor, for his
religious safe-keeping. The Hierarch then requires
him, when he has promised to bring up the child
according to the religious life, to pronounce the
renunciations and the religious professions, not, as
they would jokingly say, by instructing one instead
of another in Divine things ; for he does not say
this, " that on behalf of this child I make, myself,
the renunciations and the sacred professions,'' but,
that the child is set apart and enlisted; i.e. I
promise to persuade the child, when he has come
to a religious mind, through my godly instructions,
to bid adieu wholly to things contrary, and to
profess and perform the Divine professions. There
is here, then, nothing absurd, in my judgment,
provided the child is brought up as beseems a god-
like training, in having a guide and religious surety,
who implants in him a disposition for Divine things,
and keeps him inexperienced in things contrary.

The Hierarch imparts to the child the sacred
symbols, in order that he may be nourished by

M

1 62 Dionysius the Areopagite, &*c.

them, and may not have any other life but that
which always contemplates Divine things ; and in
religious progress become partaker of them and
have a religious disposition in these matters, and be
devoutly brought up by his Godlike surety. So
great, my son, and so beautiful, are the uniform
visions of our Hierarchy, which have been presented
to my view; and from others, perhaps, more con-
templative minds, these things have been viewed,
not only more clearly, but also more divinely. And
to thee, as I fancy, more brilliant and more divine
beauties will shine forth, by using the foregoing
stepping-stones to a higher ray. Impart then, my
friend, thyself also, to me, more perfect enlighten-
ment, and shew to mine eyes the more comely and
uniform beauties that thou mayst have been able to
see, for I am confident that, by what has been said,
I shall strike the sparks of the Divine Fire stored
up in thee.

&&anks foe t © tj #

JOHN PARKER.
All Saints* Day, 1898.

Bacon, Advancement in Learning, p. 2.

APPENDIX.

Athens.
Hierotheus

Dionysius the Areopagite
Narcissus

Publius . 118-

Quadratus, who presented

Apology to Hadrian

A.D.

52

A.D.

LIST OF BISHOPS.

Paris.
Dionysius the Areopa-
gite . • 70—119
Mallo
Martianus
Victor
Maurianus
Martinus

58

67

124

126

Toledo.

1. Eugenius . 69 — 121

2. Melantius

3. Pelagius

4. Patrummus

5. Eusebius

6. Quintus

7. Vincentius
Eugenius Marcellus was

consecrated at Aries
by Dionysius the
Areopagite . 68 — 69

The list at Toledo is as com-
plete as the list at Milan.

Arles.
St. Trophimus . . c. 46

Dionysius the Areopa-
gite . . 68—70
St. Regulus
St. Felix
Gratius
Ambrosius
Anastinus
Ingenuus
Augustinus
Hieronymus
Savitius
Martianus a
St. Marin . . 3 T 4

140
160

From Saxi

Pontificium

Arelitensium.

Milan.

1. Anotolone, G. . 51—64 5- St. Mona, M. 192—250

2. Cajo, R. b . . 64—85 6. St. Materno, M. 252—304

3. Castrinziano, M. 97— 137 7- St. Mirocle, M. 304— 325

4. Calivero, G. 138— 190

136 Bishops to 1898. St. Ambrose, nth Bishop, 374—397-

» a.d. 254 Cyprian wrote to Pope Stephen urging him to depose
Marcion, 15th or 18th Bishop from St. Trophimus. See "Monuments
inedits" de M. Faillon, t. II. p. 375. and Darras, p. 14/ .

b Gaius Oppius was the Centurion of the Crucifixion, and father ot
Agothoppius, mentioned by Ignatius.

164 Appendix.

Metropolitans of London, from King Lucius to
Pagan expulsion, 586, from list of Jocelyn, 12th
century, to be found in Stow, Ussher, Godwin,
and Fasti of Le Neve.

1. Theonus, in time of King Lucius (186 — 193 a.d,). He

built the church of St. Peter, Cornhill.

2. Elvanus, messenger from Lucius to Eleutherus, Bishop

of Rome, by whom he was consecrated.

3. Cadwr, or Cadoc. Name occurs at Caerleon.

4. Obinus. See Ussher, Antiq., p. 67. No date.

5. Conan. No date.

6. Palladius. " Bishop of Britain."

7. Stephanus. No date.

8. Iltutus, Abbot of the School of Llandaff.

9. Theodwin, or Dedwin. No date.

10. Theodred. No date.

11. Hilarius.

12. Restitutus, who attended Council of Aries, a.d. 314.

13. Guitelinus. Mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Hist.

VI. cc. 2—6.

14. Vodinus. Put to death, 453.

15. Theonus 2nd. Translated from Gloucester, 542; fled to

Wales, 586. To these may be added

16. Fastidius, Bishop of Britain, a.d. 431.

Metropolitans of York, from Godwin, Bishop
of Llandaff, 1601.

1. Sampson, appointed by King Lucius.

2. Taurinus, Bishop of Evreux, " Ebroicensis."

3. Eborius, at Aries, A.D. 314.

4. Sampson, or Saxo, expelled by Saxons, and transferred

his pall to Dol in Brittany ; consecrated, 490. Geoffrey,
Hist. VIII. 12, IX. 8.

5. Piran, appointed by King Arthur, a.d. 522, in place of

Sampson, a.d. 522. Ibid. IX. 8.

6. Thadiacus fled to Wales, a.d. 586. Geoff. Hist. XI. 10.

List of Bishops. l6 5

There was also Faganus, a messenger to Etatteu. .from
t ;«o Pprhaos it was he who founded the bee 01

SS - " wtat is now wells ' which lasted

till 721.

Isle of Man.
Amphibalus was Bishop of Man before a.d. 447, * which
year St. Patrick consecrated Germanus to Man.

Whithern.
St Ninian, Bishop of Whithern (subsequently in the Province
of YorH was consecrated by Pope Siricius, A.D. 394; rettred

to Ireland, 420 ; died, 432.

Province of Caerleon,

1. Dyfan ) Missiona ries of Eleutherus.

2. Ffagan )

4. EdyTeH. Adelfius at Aries in 3H- He is claimed also

by Colchester and Lincoln.

5. Cadwr.

6. Cynan.

7. Han.

8. Llewyr.

9. Cyhelyn.

10. Guitelin. , , -p.

11. Tremorinus, died about 490, and was succeeded by Du-

britius of Llandaff, after which the Primacy seems to

have wavered between Llandaff and Menevia. Geoff.

Hist. VIII. 10.

Dubritius consecrated in 449 (Benedict of Gloster); in

49 (Geoffrey), Bishop of Llandaff, and became Metropol tan

on the death of Tremorinus, as stated above, but hrs seat

remained at Llandaff.

166 Appendix.

St. David ,st Bishop of Menevia, was consecrated at
Jerusalem, with two companions c AD , IQ nnr f /

as Metropolitan on the death of D^ ^^^
mained at St. David's. e "

After him came Teilo, eonsecrated at the same time as
St. David, at Jerusalem, a.d. 5 x 9 , to Llandaff. He succeeded

Lla„; ff ; P ° litan ' S ° ffiCe ° n St - Da " d ' s death, etaijn'
Llandaff, and consecrating Ismael to St. David's as a Suffrage

prfalTed t^^ K* ^77^' ^

must h H r " ain <Migne ' Ser - Graca ' '<"- "!•) /.here
must have been many Bishops in Britain before Kin! V
was able to supersede the D,uid by the ChristLn K,ne . LuCms
Within ten years after the arrival JTJ^TIZZT"*?
first-fruit of Britain was sen, to Rome forest ut, on and'' '
secration He founded a Church in Beatenbe^, Sw LelnT"
For Bishops in France, see Gallia Christiana

"£2S^^*^ «■> -ford,
A,he „s h at d 8 Yo e rh 7 ""t '" ** '° "* Archbish °P» «f

.o 'lSS; K " ™<" — ated to Llandaff. and Patern. con s «cn,. e d

JOHN PARKER.

Appendix. l6 ?

APOSTOLIC TRADITIONS

GENERALLY IN ABEYANCE.

i. Washing of feet. St. John xiii. 4-U-
a. Anointing of siek with prayer for healing. St.
James v. i4> I S-

3. Anointing with Oil and Muron in Baptism.

4. Anointing with Muron for Consecration.
5 Trine immersion in Baptism.

6. Intense offered to God's Holy Name. Malachi
ii. 11.

INDEX.

D. = Vol. I. ; H. = Vol. II.

Agnosia, D. i, 21-9, 130-3,

141, 144
Angels, St. Paul's teaching,

H.23
Anomia (Lawlessness), D.

156-8
Apostles and Successors, D.

160
Archetypes, D. 36-7; H. 11,

81,91,92,112

Baptism, H. 75, 86, 89, 158
Burial, H. 145 — 159

Consecration, H. 90, 106
Contemplation, H. 51, 70,

80, 91, in, 124, 132, 141,

149

Dedication of Monk, 139—41
Deification, D. 26 — 96, 104,

117; H. 3. 77>8o, 88, 97
Diptychs ; H. 90 — 102

Evil. D. 52—72.

God-Parents ; H. 160

Hierarch, D. 160; H. 44,
69. 72, 79, 89, no, 131,
136, 148, 157

Holy Communion, H. 87 —
109, 90, 97, 106, 108

Incense, H. 89, 92, no, 113

Jesus, D. 16, 21, 22, 23, 117,
124, 142, 143, 149, 156, 162,
165 ; H. 20, 27, 67, 70, 92,

94, 95, 104, 106, 107, 115,
120, 122, 127, 133, 134

Monad, D. 5, no, 123, 124;

H. 31
Muron, H. no — 122
Mystic, D. 21, 31, 167

Nature, of God, D. 91, 124,
134; of life, D. 84, 79;
causes of life, D. 7 ; corrup-
tion of life, D. 64, 65

Oracles, Mystic, H. 7 ; In-
telligible, H. 44 ; given by
God, H. 131 ; Canon of
truth, D. 15 ; Source of
Theology, D. 12 ; Essence
of Hierarchy, H. 72, 96,
n8

Ordination, Bishop, Priest,
and Deacon, H. 131 -7

Paradeigma, D. 81 ; H. 41,

91
Prayer, D. 27, 28 ; H. 153—

158 ; for ungodly, 154
Providence, D. 9, 11, 27,

32, 34, 44, 48, 70, 73, 104,

115, 117, 120, 158; H.

I7>39

Symbolic Theology, D. 167
Symbols, D. 172; H. 2, 3,
4, 5, 9, 11, 26, 105

Tradition, D. 6, 16, 21, 170
Triad, D. 17, 27, 37, 79, 125

Unction, H. 78, 80, 158

^^ llllM S #*»♦